The Internet Spurs Interest in Smart Cards
Internet-savvy consumers say they are interested in chip-based credit cards, according to a recent study by Atlanta-based Synergistics Research Corp. titled “Credit Cards: Online Opportunities.” The study surveyed 1,366 Internet users. Forty-eight percent of the respondents say they are “very” or “somewhat” interested in obtaining a smart card, while only 1% indicate they currently have a smart card. Nine in 10 respondents say a smart card would be useful for making purchases on the Internet.
More than eight in 10 individuals surveyed say it would be useful for keeping records of purchases in order to receive discounts, for storing personal financial information such as account numbers and balances, and for loading cash value onto the card from a checking account. “Internet users are the first wave of adopters for smart cards in the United States,” says Genie M. Driskoll, Synergistics’ chief operating officer. “Naturally these people would be more interested because they are more tech-oriented.” Synergistics plans to follow up this study with an examination of marketing opportunities and applications for smart cards.
European Bank To Issue 33,000 Security Smart Cards
A European bank will issue 33,000 employees smart cards for signing on to the company’s computer network and digitally signing e-mail and other documents. The bank, which was not identified, will distribute the chip cards over the next 18 months, says Tim Russell, vice president and general manager of Information Security Solutions at Minneapolis-based Datakey Inc. Datakey is supplying the desktop software, smart cards and some of the readers to the bank. The bank is using public-key technology and digital certificates for employee authentication and data encryption.
U.S. Post Office To Issue Smart Cards for Mail Certification
The U.S. Postal Service has announced that it will certify electronic documents with smart cards through a new service called NetPost.Certified. The Postal Service initially will offer the service to the Health Care Financing Administration and the Social Security Administration, with plans to provide it to other U.S. government agencies and then the commercial sector over the next two years. It will issue users smart cards with digital certificates embedded in the chip. When activated by the smart card reader, the certificate encrypts the document to be sent so that only the receiving party can open it.
The technology also will time- and date-stamp the documents, making them as legally binding as certified mail in the physical world. New York-based Publicard Inc. will provide the smart card readers, and Vienna, Va.-based TecSec Inc. will provide the encryption technology. The Postal Service will charge a transaction fee for each document sent, says Jan-Erik Rottinghuis, Publicard’s president and chief executive. “This is a big opportunity for us, and a major endorsement for smart cards,” says Rottinghaus. “As private companies start using the service, millions of cards will be issued.” The Postal Service was not available for comment.