Smartcard Set for Faster Growth Rate
Although Smartcard was invented more than two decades ago, the last two years have witnessed an explosive growth in their technology and applications, thanks to the Internet, with e-commerce being the principal driver.
In India, while pioneering efforts to introduce smartcard-based payphones was initiated by a Mumbai-based company, Aplab Ltd, in the early 90s, the first major use of smartcards came in the form of the GSM SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card in 1995.
The growth of GSM telephony in the country has been rather slow. However, policy initiatives taken by the government are expected to give a boost to mobile telephony.
These include the decision to allow entry of more than two operators in each telecom circle, including government-owned companies Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), and others, to provide cellular services, with a drastic reduction in tariffs.
Card Numbers Multiply
The results are already visible. The number of GSM SIM cards, which stood at 1.6 million at the end of 1999, reached 2.3 million in July and is expected to cross the three million mark by the end of this year.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has projected a base of 25 million mobile subscribers in India by the end of 2005 and nearly 100 million by 2010.
The other two thrust areas for smartcard applications, the banking and transport sectors, have just opened up in India.
These two sectors, together with the GSM telephony, hold great promise for the spread of smartcard applications in India and the number of smartcards is expected to touch 200-250 million in the next few years.
The government-owned Dena Bank introduced the concept of smartcard-based "Anywhere Banking" in a few selected branches in Mumbai in 1997.
This was followed by the Department of Posts for its deposit schemes in Delhi in the same year.
Project Takes Off
Towards the end of 1997, the RBI set up a project - SMARS (Smart Rupee System) - at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai in collaboration with the Institute for Development and Research in Banking in Hyderabad and hardware and software vendors and two commercial banks - the State Bank of India and Canara Bank - to formulate smartcard standards for the banking sector. SMARS gave its recommendations in August 1999, based on which RBI issued guidelines for introducing smartcards and debit cards in the banking sector early this year.
by S Swarn, Mumbai
(December 2000 Issue, Nikkei Electronics Asia) |
