Secure identity provider HID Global, Irvine, Calif., has bought Nectarsmart card .NET technology, based on Microsoft.NET, from StepNexus and Hive Minded. Nectar is a commercial and licensed reference implementation of a .NET virtual machine for embedded systems with a smart card dedicated operating system. 

NXP Semiconductors says within the next few months it will launch its MIFARE4Mobile Application Programming Interfaces specifications which will manage MIFARE-based applications in mobile devices. This new specification will provide mobile network operators and service providers with an interoperable programming interface for NFC-enabled phones. 

Seeking to ensure continued NFC growth and acceptance, two French companies–contactless chip maker INSIDE Contactless and FIME, a smart card and terminal testing solutions provider–have partnered to speed up the attainment of NFC interoperability. The two companies hope to identify and resolve potential conflicts in NFC devices and develop a process for testing and certifying NFC-enabled handsets. 

British banking group HSBC and Visa are launching a contactless debit card in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Pakistan early next year. Customers will be able to use Visa payWave for low value purchases. The cards will also support loyalty programs, says Visa.

HSBC says it expects to issue more than a million Visa debit cards in the region over the next five years. Read more here.  

MasterCard has launched an over-the-air provisioning service enabling issuers to personalize their cardholders’ mobile devices in a one-step process. The new service, Mobile MasterCard PayPass, enables mobile devices to perform payment transactions at merchant locations with PayPass-enabled POS terminals. 

The Smart Card Alliance today announced its 2008-2009 board and seven-member executive committee.

The Alliance board of directors held elections for the executive committee at the organization’s annual government conference this month in Washington, D.C. The executive committee will serve in a leadership role for the board and direct the activities of the executive director, the staff and the organization’s industry councils for the year ahead. 

Chase, the consumer and commercial banking brand of JPMorgan Chase & Company, has teamed up with MasterCard Worldwide and the Chicago Bears to introducing the Chicago Bears Debit MasterCard. New and existing Chase personal checking customers in Illinois are eligible for the new card.

Read more here.