National transit card in the works for England

The UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) has revealed plans to implement a national smart card for public transportation on English trains, trams and buses, according to railnews.co.uk. UK Transport Minister Norman Baker plans for the national smart card to be an “all-mode” device, and thus compatible with existing smart cards already issued by Passenger Transport Executives, says railnews.co.uk.Read the full article at ContactlessNews…

Codebench receives certification

MaxID has announced that the OMNICheck product from Codebench Inc. has met all requirements and satisfactorily completed Immigration Customs Enforcement certification requirements on the MaxID iDL500 handheld multi-modal TWIC reader. OMNICheck is a mobile validation software application that verifies PIV, TWIC, FRAC, and CAC credentials over the reader’s contact or contactless interface. When configured in one of the four TWIC authentication modes, it functions as a TSA ICE-listed mobile TWIC reader. Read the full article at ContactlessNews…

GSA approves credential holder

EK Ekcessories’ electromagnetically opaque sleeve has received FIPS 201 approval from General Services Administration under the most recent test criteria. The One Hander Card Holder protects personal information from unauthorized data skimming. The new holder features a similar design as a flip cell phone; the face of the protective clear case flips open to expose the ID or proximity card for scanning and in the closed position it has a protective shield to prevent unauthorized scanning of your ID card.  Read the full article at ContactlessNews…

Gemalto launches PROX DUTM smart card reader for access control

Gemalto has announced the launch of its new PROX DUTM smart card reader for physical and logical access control. According to Gemalto, the dual-interface reader supports a host of applications using both contactless and contact technologies, including employee corporate badge, electronic identity, health care, retail and mass transit ticketing.Read the full article at ContactlessNews…

The e-passport revolution: The next generation of travel security

by Adam Tangun, Sales Director e-Government for EMEA, HID Global Over the past decade, growing concerns over national security have forced governments around the world to raise their overall public safety profile by refining existing security policies and procedures. Driven by the threats of terrorism, illegal immigration and identity theft, the challenge facing governments and entities like the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has been to find the best way to increase the security of international travel by minimizing human error and safeguarding personal data. Passport control procedures have been a major area of focus, with a heavy emphasis on how governments monitor and control access at their borders.Read the full article at ContactlessNews…

Schlage and ScreenCheck teams for expanded card personalization and printing

Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies, provider of security solutions and manufacturer of Schlage contactless smart credentials and readers, have entered into a partnership with ScreenCheck International which will let customers design, encode, print and manage its card population through ScreenCheck’s BadgeMaker Online software. This new partnership will grant ScreenCheck, developer of smart card software solutions, access to Schlage’s portfolio of credentials to provide customers expanded options for card personalization and printing.  Read the full article at ContactlessNews…

Clear2Pay, Edenred launch contactless employee meal voucher program in Belgium

Clear2Pay and Edenred are partnering to launch the first contactless card-based employee meal voucher program on the Belgian market. The electronic voucher, which will be used for the payment of food expenses at retail stores and restaurants, aims to provide a more convenient and eco-friendly alternative to current paper-based employee benefit programs, according to Clear2Pay. Read the full article at ContactlessNews…

Smart Destinations delivers contactless tourist card to Chicago

Smart Destinations is launching its contactless smart card program at 26 of Chicago’s top tourist attractions, according to squidcard.com. To use the Custom Chicago Explorer Pass, users go online to choose which attractions they want to visit in advance and Smart Destinations mails them a custom made contactless card.Read the full article at ContactlessNews…

NXP et al. deliver contactless transit system for 2014 Olympics

NXP Semiconductors announced that its MIFARE Plus contactless microcontroller has been chosen by the Russian city of Sochi to power the Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system of its ground transportation network during the 2014 Winter Olympics. NXP is working with several partners to complete the system, including solution provider and equipment manufacturer Strikh-M, inlay manufacturer SMARTRAC and card manufacturer Novacard.Read the full article at ContactlessNews…

CEA-Leti demonstrates new communication technology for smart cards

French researcher CEA-Leti announced that it has demonstrated a contactless, high-speed interface for smart cards. Leti has created a prototype of a complete phase modulation system, a reader and a card, that now achieves speeds of 6.8 Mbit/s. Phase modulation’s spectral characteristics are superior to those of amplitude modulation, allowing considerably higher speeds than the current limit of 848 Kbit/s.Read the full article at ContactlessNews…