SCT31 is Issued: ID Security Markets Come to a Boil [SCT e-News : 20/07/2008]
2008 will be the year of ID Security. We’re seeing a strategic reorganization at Oberthur Technologies, a continuous investment strategy for Gemalto, triumph at Sagem Sécurité with the recent acquisition of Sdu Identification.

 Multilateral Interchange Fees : MasterCard Complies with EC decision but appeal continue [SCT e-News : 13/06/2008]
It is always unclear if the dialogue with the European Commission which continues with MasterCard Europe, Visa Europe and retail organizations (Eurocommerce) could link soon to a definitive conclusion.

 SCT30 is Issued: Mobile NFC Enters “Chicken vs. Egg” Fray [SCT eNews : 29/05/2008]
Oh, the turmoil! No, this is the “chiasma”! Biological metaphors are not yet adequate enough. Some would suggest plate tectonics, other more prosaic sorts prefer geology, cooking or even the plate of spaghetti that resembles a Gordian knot...

 French and German Banks looking to set up a SEPA card scheme competing with Visa and MasterCard [SCT e-News : 17/04/2008]
They underlined the importance of a clear regulation framework to provide a good visibility on interchange fees mechanisms.

 Bundesdruckerei sale: the last mile? [SCT e-News : 17/04/2008]
G&D is far to be the only candidate. Gemalto is also interested. And more recently the names of Siemens and Bosch came up in the game.

 SCT29 is Issued: Convergence drives the smart security market upward [SCT e-News : 04/03/2008]
The smartcard industry, recently rebaptized the smart security industry, has undoubtedly just entered a new cycle in its still young history.

 HCI War Finale : Future is open for NFC [SCTNews : 23/02/2008]
This vote is very important for the whole industry involved in the future NFC Mobile ecosystem as it opens the last door for secured commercial roll-out.

 European Commission Prohibits MasterCard's intra-EEA Multilateral Interchange Fees [SCT-e-News : 19/12/2007]
SEPA enters a new era of uncertainty. 2008 could be a pivotal year for a paradigm shift in card payment.

 SCT28 is Issued.- Google Android- Foe or Friend of SIM? [SCT-News : 11/12/2007]
The impressive all-out offensive undertaken by Google to gain a foothold in the world of mobile phones over the past few weeks has apparently paid off. Big G does nothing by halves...



 SCT27 is Issued-. Oberthur Technologies Muscles up on Expertise [SCT-News : 12/11/2007]
Oberthur Card Systems (OCS) and François-Charles Oberthur Fiduciaire (FCOF) will merge to form a “leading entity in secure technologies.

 Host Control Interface (HCI): Nokia sees Double [SCT-News : 24/10/2007]
One HCI or two? Including the UICC? The new dispute raising at the ETSI SCP level about the specification of a Host Controller Interface is strongly related to the future NFC Mobile ecosystem.

 Your major rendezvous is coming soon! [CARTES & IDentification : 15/09/2007]
The 22nd edition of CARTES & IDentification, THE world-leading event in digital security smart card and identification, will take place at Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre in November 13-15 2007.

 SCT26 is Issued-. With eGo, Human Body Is a Natural ‘Touch Card‘ [SCT-News : 14/09/2007]
You own what you touch…” Is this a new take on personal property, a variation of “Possession is nine-tenths of the law”? No, it's a critical invention at the crossroads of Personal Network Area (PAN), Ultra Wide Band (UWB) & smartcards.

 SCT25 is Issued-. Machine-To-Machine: The Ball is in the MNOs' Court [SCT News : 27/07/2007]
Machines are already over a billion with the capacity to transmit data about electric or gas consumption, reams of photocopier paper, miles driven, pressure or temperature. And that's only the beginning... A major opportunity for the SIM card.

 Gemalto Announces a Restructuring Project in France [Gemalto N.V. : 07/06/2007]
The ending of the manufacturing activity in the Orléans facility by the second half of 2008, as well as the redeployment of the production activity towards other existing centers in France and Western Europe. 

 Gemalto lays off 409 employees in France to cut costs [SCT News : 07/06/2007]
Olivier Piou announced during the presentation of the disappointed Q1 results “its strategic plan which combines programs to reduce costs with initiatives to accelerate profitable growth.“

 SCT24 is Issued-. Visa and Mastercard “Emperors“ of SEPA [SCT News : 02/06/2007]
Is the "big bang" of the SEPA originally announced actually just a small whimper? Has the opening of the European market to wider competition simply served to strengthen the Visa/Mastercard duopoly?

 Eurosmart forecast 20 billion of Smart Secure Devices by 2020 [Eurosmart : 04/05/2007]
Latest release of Eurosmart “Vision paper 2020” shows that smart cards will pioneer the way for Smart Secure Devices tomorrow with 20 billion of these are forecasted in 2020.

 Eurosmart Estimates 4 billion Smartcards to be Shipped this Year [SCT News : 21/04/2007]
For the first time, Eurosmart has given this year an estimation of the overall contactless card market, which represents more than 500 million units, including memory only basic security as well as secured contactless devices.

 The Next Thing: Trusted Personal Mobile [SCT News : 09/03/2007]
The "Swiss Army Knife, throw-in-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" phenomenon of the mobile telephone is reaching its full effect. Of course, this openness also increases the level of security and liability exigencies.

 NFC-SIM Interface : NXP Semiconductors retracts its S1C Proposal [SCT News : 29/01/2007]
Single Wire Protocol (SWP) is becoming de facto the UICC-CLF standard interface to link the SIM card, as the secure element for contactless transactions, to the NFC front end in the next generation of handsets.

 SCT22 is Issued-. NFC Mobile Payment: Planets are in Alignment [SCT News : 07/01/2007]
Contactless payment will come to the mobile phone, there can no longer be any doubt, and the entire industry must prepare itself for a veritable explosion in this market. This feeling is universal.

 GSM Association pushes for a global standard for Near Field Communications (NFC) [GSM Association : 21/11/2006]
NFC technology, integrated with the secure and well-trusted environment provided by the SIM card, has the potential to marry the ubiquity of the mobile device with a range of consumer services that have global appeal.

 ETSI vote on High Speed Protocol : a large Win for the USB proposal [SCT News : 20/11/2006]
Better late than ever ! The UBS Interchip has found a royal way to become the universal standard protocol and interface for a new generation of smartcards.

 Five Major Telecoms and Banking players join forces to explore Contactiess Mobile Payment solutions [Pôle TES : 12/11/2006]
BNP Paribas, Bouygues Telecom, Groupe Crédit Mutuel-CIC, Orange and SFR have launched a joint initiative to build and test a common contactiess mobile payment solution.

 Algorithmic Research Reveals PIN Processing Weakness that Allow Payment-Card Fraud [Algorithmic Research (ARX) : 07/11/2006]
The discovery was made together with Dr. Omer Berkman from the Academic College of Tel-Aviv Yaffo and Mrs. Odelia Ostrovsky (see the photo) from the Tel-Aviv University.

 High Speed Protocol: Telefónica/o2, T-Mobile, Vodafone and 3 in favor of the USB proposal [SCT News : 06/11/2006]
“USB is a candidate technology that fulfills key ETSI requirements, and builds on its proven interoperability and reliability,“ assessed the four major telecom operators and the French Association of Mobile Operators as well.

 SCT21 is Issued: SmartCard a Key to Civilize Biometrics (Special Issue + 8 pages) [SCT News : 01/11/2006]
Originally hailing from the medical world, and then above all from policing applications (AFIS – Automated Fingerprint Identification System), biometric technologies have exploded in a very short time, since the ‘big-bang’ of 9/11...

 The Future of the SIM card : Critical Decisions are Upcoming [SCTNews : 22/10/2006]
MMC, USB, Nokia proposal, or SD technology ? Very important votes are planned on November 20, 2006 at ETSI SCP.

 SCT20 is Issued: Is The Card Following in the PC’s Footsteps? [SCTNews : 09/09/2006]
IBM’s PC just celebrated its 25th birthday (August 12, 1981). The smartcard (the one with the first microcircuit, rather than a memory chip card) will celebrate in one month (October 1981)...