Contactless Smart Cards, RFID, Payment, Transit and Security

ABI Research appoints new principal analyst for smart cards, embedded security

Monday, July 12, 2010

ABI Research, an independent firm providing analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies, has announced the appointment of John Devlin as principal analyst for smart cards and embedded security.

As a principal analyst, Devlin will focus his research and management efforts on markets and technologies for smart cards and chip cards, authentication, identification, payments and data protection.


From 2001 until he joined ABI Research in 2010, Devlin has held positions at IMS Research in the UK, eventually becoming the research sirector of the Financial & I.D. Technologies Group, a new business area which he developed for the firm. His past research has covered mobile, contactless/NFC, smart cards, payment acceptance and ID. [end] 

A new report from ABI Research reveals that the security sector is driving growth in the smart card industry, according to esecurityplanet.com.

“New revenues are coming from contactless/dual-interface cards and more applications require the greater security offered by smart cards. There remains a small, but solid, memory-based market, but higher-end secure microcontroller ICs and embedded solutions are driving the new growth. As a result of this and re-stocking inventory, we forecast that IC revenues will grow nearly 14% in 2010,” said ABI Research analyst John Devlin.

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is reportedly testing a new NFC-enabled Nokia smart phone, according to phonescoop.com.

The unnamed phone, which Phone Scoop says could feature mobile payment capabilities, also supports Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) on radio bands used by AT&T and T-Mobile’s 3G networks.

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Despite recent moves into mobile payment by giants such as Bank of America and Visa, US merchants may be hesitant to adopt the new technology, according to analysts at Reuters.

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RBS-owned NatWest and Telifonica’s O2 have broken their partnership, calling into question the future of NFC payments in the UK, according to internetretailing.net.

Datamonitor analyst Giles Ubaghs says, “NatWest’s move away from its joint venture with O2 is likely due to the wider difficulties with government-owned RBS. With austerity becoming a growing concern in the public sector, NatWest’s focus on its core services is perhaps unsurprising.”

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MarketsandMarkets has released a new report predicting that the value of mobile payment transactions in the US will reach $56 billion in 2015.

According to the report, “Mobile Payment - Advanced Technologies (NFC), Strategies And Future Of Remote & Proximity Payment In US,” the market for NFC mobile payment in the US is currently in its infancy, with an adoption rate of only 1.7%.

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Bank of America will be testing NFC payments enabled through microSD cards, a spokesperson for the bank tells NFCNews.com. The program will begin in September and run through the end of the year in New York.

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