Card Programs in 21 Countries Back Electronic Purse Standard

Visa International said organizations represented in 21 countries, accounting for more than 90% of all stored-value smart cards, have announced support for the Common Electronic Purse Specifications, or CEPS.

Visa has been championing the effort to promote interchange among purse cards from different countries and currencies, initially motivated by the convergence of the European Monetary Union around the euro. But the framework is designed to be global, and among the committed countries listed by Visa last week were Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, and the United States.

Still not signing on are MasterCard International and its Mondex venture.

But high-profile chip card programs such as ZKA in Germany, Proton in Belgium and other countries, and Visa's own Visa Cash are on board. Europay International, MasterCard's European affiliate and marketing agent, has endorsed CEPS as well as Mondex's Multos operating system.

"This is a very positive step," said Bob Potts, chief executive officer of Barclays Bank's Barclaycard division. "It is in the interests of banks worldwide that we agree to develop common standards for electronic purse."

Philip Yen, Visa's senior vice president, chip platform, said CEPS will have a standardization impact similar to EMV, the smart card terminal- interface specification that Visa worked out with MasterCard and Europay International, and to SET, the Secure Electronic Transaction protocol for the Internet.

"The business requirements have been defined, and the technical specifications will be done by yearend," Mr. Yen said.

A standard will help banks "capitalize on their investments to date," said Hans van der Velde, Visa regional president for the European Union, where there are more than 80 million electronic purse cards. He said CEPS will ensure that customers can use cards outside their home countries and "will pave the way for electronic purse schemes to compete on their brand strengths rather than on a technological basis."

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER