ContactlessNews | BPC, Alfa-Bank debut contactless Visa cards in Russia

Monday, October 31, 2011

BPC Banking Technologies and Alfa-Bank have teamed up to complete the first certified Visa PayWave launch in Russia, according to RFP Connect.

Alfa-Bank, which boasts some 200 branches throughout Russia, will distribute contactless PayWave Visa cards to its customers to enable low-value contactless payments at the point of sale. To pay, customers need only tap their PayWave card against a contacltess reader at checkout - no PIN of signature required. Transactions are protected by 128-bit technology that generates unique cryptograms for each payment, according to BPC.

To expedite the roll out BPC deployed its SmartIssuer card management solution, which provided product development, application processing, cardholder servicing and, in conjunction with SmartPro, card personalization and production. According to BPC, implementation of the Visa PayWave project at Alfa-Bank took only three months to complete.

HSBC announced that it will begin the conversion to contactless technology this month, replacing all customer banking debit cards, according to ThinkMoney.com.

The bank will start to roll out the new contactless cards to existing customers whose debit cards are due to expire this month and then continue the process as cards expire. Customers who don’t want a contactless card can opt out by contacting their bank before their current card expires.

Denizbank joins Cep-T Cuzdan NFC payments platform

Denizbank, a private bank with 588 branches in Turkey, has joined Turkcell’s Cep-T Cuzdan platform, enabling its customers to make contactless payments with their NFC-enabled handsets.

Saudi bank deploys Gemalto banking cards

Al Bilad Bank, a Shariah-based financial organization in Saudi Arabia, has deployed Gemalto’s Dexxis Instant Issuance solution for EMV payment cards in more than 120 bank branches. With this system, Al Bilad can issue up to 2,000 EMV DDA high-end security smart cards a day.

Infineon lends a hand in Europe contactless bank card project

The German Banking Industry Committee has partnered with Infineon Technologies to launch one of Europe’s biggest contactless payment trials in the metropolitan area of Hanover, Braunschweig and Wolfsburg.

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