Smart Bits: Visa Tests in U.K., Japan To Use RSA Coding

RSA Data Security Inc. said its data encryption technology will be embedded in cryptocontrollers to be supplied by Philips Semiconductors for Visa smart card trials in the United Kingdom and Japan.

The chips carrying the RSA encryption technology, the Philips P83C858, will be used by merchants to get access to and authenticate information in terminals that accept Visa Cash cards.

The U.K. trial this fall is expected to involve at least 15,000 cards, the Japanese trial several hundred.

Jim Bidzos, president of RSA, said the powerful Philips chip will ensure "fast and easy" transaction processing.

The Philips technology has been used in pay television applications and is moving into the financial arena, said William Weiss, smart card integrated circuit marketing manager of the Dutch-owned electronics company. He said the combination of RSA, Philips, and Visa can "chart the way forward for public key cryptographic financial smart cards."

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