Gemalto has announced its selection by Italian telecom company Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) to support the launch of a transportation-related NFC program in Trento. The program will enable TIM customers to use their mobile phones to access public transit.

TIM-issued phones will have SIM cards embedded with Gemalto applications, enabling the remote purchase of tickets at anytime. Travelers will also be able to validate their transport pass even when the battery of their mobile phone is off.

Working with several telecom operators, Gemalto has launched transit-related NFC programs in several locations throughout Europe, including the French cities of Grenoble, Rennes and Paris. The TIM system will be the first such NFC system in Italy.  

Germany’s SCM Microsystems has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Sony Corporation to develop and supply FeliCa contactless card readers for international markets. The arrangement allows SCM to develop a line of FeliCa products targeting the enterprise, mobile and banking markets, beginning with FeliCa Physical Access Control Terminals (PACT).

FeliCa, created by Sony, is the standard for contactless payment in Japan. All SCM terminals and readers developed under the cooperation are anticipated to be ISO 14443 and FeliCa capable and fully support Near Field Communication functionality.

SCM expects to introduce the first readers in its FeliCa portfolio in the fourth quarter of 2008. Additional products to be added to the line are under discussion between the two companies.  

McDonald’s will introduce a downloadable coupon for Sony Felica-enabled phones in its Japanese restaurants. The new payment application, called the Kasazu coupon, is downloaded onto a consumer’s phone at the point-of-sale. The consumer then places their phone on a reader to make the payment or use the coupon.

McDonald’s will initially test the e-coupon in 175 stores, and then roll it out in all 3,800 outlets in Japan. Many Japanese mobile phones feature the Sony Felica technology, making Japan a good location to test the concept. McDonald’s has not announced specific plans to take the Kasazu coupon beyond Japan’s borders, but experts generally agree that international adoption of this type of transaction technology will happen soon.

The appeal of this type of technology for companies like McDonald’s stems not just from the convenience it offers its consumers, but also the targeted marketing opportunities that it presents.  

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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded a $6.1 million contract to Verizon Business for PIV cards that comply with HSPD-12. The contract includes a one-year term and two optional extensions.

The VA is expecting to issue about 500,000 cards. Verizon Business will host and manage the Veterans Affairs credential solutions in a secure Verizon Business data center that is supported 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with services backed up by redundant systems. 

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

Another CTST is in the books, this time without the emphasis on CardTech/SecurTech, the name for previous shows. It was also the first time SourceMedia and the Smart Card Alliance jointly produced the show and, according to executives from both organizations, the new format was a success.

“Fantastic,” is the way Randy Vanderhoof, Smart Card Alliance executive director, put it when asked his reaction to the show. “I personally am very pleased with how the event worked out. The conference program turned out to be a big hit with the audience. We generally got great reviews from attendees about the merger of the CTST conference and the Smart Card Alliance annual event.” That SCA annual event is normally held in the fall. This year, the alliance will move its government-focused conference, which is usually held in the spring, to the fall.

Officially, the conference was listed as CTST The Americas 2008, to incorporate both North America and Latin America, where the Smart Card Alliance also has an organization. 

Advantidge, Inc., a supplier of card printers, systems and supplies, announced the availability of the Corn Card, a new eco-friendly card solution with ecological advantages over traditional petroleum-based Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) cards.

Millions of PVC cards are used every day in a plethora of applications and industries – cutting across nearly every social and business sector imaginable. These include photo IDs for schools and companies, membership cards, hotel room key-cards and gift and loyalty cards. But since their production is dependent on oil, a non-renewable resource, PVC cards adversely affect the environment, both in their manufacture and eventual disposal.