Smart cards set to soar in '98
By Scott Berinato
December 18, 1997
PC Week
Developments on all fronts--including hardware, applications and systems--are pushing smart-card technology into the mainstream.
In what promises to be the largest smart-card system deployment yet in North America, health-care claims resolution company RealMed Corp. will join Digital Equipment Corp., MCI Communications Corp. and smart-card maker Gemplus Corp. to roll out in 1998 a nationwide smart-card infrastructure for health insurance users.
Meanwhile, VeriFone Inc. this week announced an agreement to incorporate its VeriSmart card system into Northern Telecom Inc. smart phones. Also this week, ActionTec Electronics Inc. introduced a smart-card reader for electronic commerce applications, while Product Technologies Inc. rolled out Version 4.0 of its SmartCity electronic purse application for smart cards. PTI has also formed a partnership with smart-card systems integrator CyberMark LLP, according to officials of the Middletown, Conn., company.
The RealMed network, which aims to reduce insurance claims transaction costs by 40 percent, will use PCs and Alpha servers from Digital, networking from MCI, and smart cards and readers from Gemplus, said RealMed officials in Indianapolis.
The cards will contain basic admissions and policy data, as well as credit and debit payment capabilities. The network will go live in the first half of 1998, with the first insurance company signing on expected to disburse a million or more smart cards to its customers, said RealMed officials.
Up to now, users have been hesitant to try smart cards because of a lack of understanding, which has in turn kept merchants from deploying the equipment to accept smart cards. Thus, application development has slowed.
VeriFone's agreement with Nortel will give PowerTouch touch-screen telephones the ability to accept smart cards for a variety of applications, said officials of VeriFone, in Redwood City, Calif. Nortel's smart-card phones, which will be in place early in 1998, will enable consumers to download electronic cash for storage on a smart card, access bank accounts and purchase goods securely over the phone.
ActionTec, of Sunnyvale, Calif., will bolster its smart-card reader hardware to support popular transaction protocols. The PC900 will enable Internet transactions using EMV (EuroPay/MasterCard/Visa) and SET (Secure Electronic Transaction) payment methods. The device connects to a PC via serial port and is compliant with Microsoft Corp.'s PC/Smart Card specification for linking smart cards to applications.
Available in the second quarter, the PC900 is the first of a family of readers to be rolled out over the coming year and will cost less than $100, officials said.
Product Technologies' SmartCity electronic purse application is also EMV-compliant. The debit purse supports loyalty applications, and the server software will accept smart cards from other vendors as well. It also ships with a set of tools for customization of smart-card applications. SmartCity is available now. Pricing varies depending on size of installation. |
