CPI, Inside Reach Contactless Sticker Pact

CPI Card Group (CPI), a major card product manufacturer, has joined with France-based contactless chip kingpin Inside Contactless to create what the two firms deem is the  industry's first contactless sticker product for open-loop (branded bank card) payments.
The new sticker technology has just been released by Inside Contactless as a means to jumpstart contactless payment behavior in consumers and stir interest among merchants, all to lay the groundwork for a hoped-for convergence with Near Field Communications-based phone payments within four to five years. The sticker format is one that can be applied to a phone , card or any device, to enabling payments to a linked account.
According to  Littleton, CO-based CPI, it will deliver the first stickers based on Inside’s MicroPass platform to an unnamed “global leader” in electronic commerce and payment services, and anticipates taking orders from “several other” North American issuers. CPI also plans to explore closed-loop applications in transit, gift card and loyalty offerings.
“CPI Card Group offers the largest production capacity in North America, and would not be making this kind of investment if we weren't confident of the magnitude of this market opportunity,” said Bob Clarke, vice president of sales and marketing at CPI Card Group. “Our project management and manufacturing expertise combined with INSIDE's technology leadership and support has enabled us to go from prototype engineering samples to developing and introducing a real payment sticker product in a very short time."