Smart Card & Identity News A New Flavour for eCash

World News In Brief
Smart Payment Card Shipments Hit
One Billion in 2011
In 2011, for the first time in history, the number of
smart payment cards shipped annually to financial
institutions worldwide passed the one billion mark
(1044 million), according to figures released by the
Smart Payment Association (SPA)
http://www.smartpaymentassociation.com
The six SPA members, who represent more than
85% of the total available market, shipped 898
million smart payment cards (of which 90% were
EMV cards); a healthy 12% rise in volumes on 2010
figures.
The highest regional climb was recorded in the
Americas. Here, Canada's completion of its EMV
migration, the increasing adoption of chip and PIN
cards across Latin America and the first significant
volumes of EMV cards to be issued in the United
States all contributed to a +29% jump in shipments.
The Asia Pacific market was similarly buoyant in
2011, with the region showing a +26% increase.
The annual review highlights the ever increasing
penetration of contactless payment, with pure
contactless and dual interface payment cards
accounting for 15% (130 million) of SPA member
shipments in 2011. By investing in contactless cards
issuers are increasingly able to offer faster, more
convenient and more intuitive payment options to
customers; while investments made on the
acquiring side (terminals and infrastructure) are
paving way for the expected growth in mobile NFC
payments.
Veritec Rolls Out Blinx On-Off
Smart Toggle Debit Card
Veritec, Inc. announces the roll out of their Blinx
On-Off Smart Toggle Debit Card. Veritec's new
Smart Toggle Card can easily be toggled on and off
by using a mobile phone or the web. Card holders
can receive instant notification of card activities and
transfers of funds in real time, within the Veritec
system.
Veritec's technology includes a Proprietary Secure
Financial Card Processing Software Platform and is
the approved Third Party Processor of debit cards
for banks and Visa.
Veritec is the patent holder for proprietary twodimensional
Matrix Symbology, VeriCode and
VSCode.
Smart Card & Identity News • March 2012
The Codes assist in the secure identification of
people and products. The combination of a
financial debit card and a secure identification card
make Veritec's Multi-Purpose Cards unique in its
field.
2011 Fraud Losses Continue
Downward Trend
The latest payment fraud losses for 2011, released
on 7 March 2012, by the banking and card
payments industry show that credit card, debit card
and online banking fraud levels have fallen again.
This continued success is thanks to efforts by the
industry, partners, and importantly, customers.
Fraudsters' activities in other areas have caused a
minor increase in cheque and telephone banking
losses.
Fraud losses on UK cards fell 7% from £365.4m in
2010 to £341.0m in 2011, resulting in a three-year
reduction of nearly 45%. Losses are at the lowest
levels since 2000. This healthy trend is a result of
the industry's efforts to deter, detect and prosecute
fraudsters.
Online banking fraud losses fell 24% from £46.6m
in 2010, to £35.4m in 2011. This decrease has
occurred despite a continuing rise in phishing
attacks and attacks involving malware. Phishing
attacks are up 80 % from 2010.
Telephone banking fraud losses rose from £12.7m
in 2010 to £16.7m in 2011 (an increase of 32%).
Most losses involve customers being duped by
criminals, using fake emails or cold calling, into
disclosing their personal security details such as
telephone banking passcodes.
To read the full report visit:
www.theukcardsassociation.org.uk
First Contactless Payment Program
in the Canary Islands with Ingenico
Ingenico announced the deployment of 645 wireless
terminals for the first program of payments with
contactless Visa cards in the Canary Islands.
More than 5,000 clients of the financial entity
Cajasiete will be able to benefit from the advantages
of payment with the SINcontacto card in more than
500 stores throughout all the islands, putting the
Canaries at the forefront of this technology in
Spain.
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