Schlumberger Supplies Wireless-Bank Cards
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Schlumberger said has it has supplied Cyberflex smart cards and related tool kits to the Canadian wireless-network operator Microcell Solutions Inc. for a mobile banking program under development at National Bank of Canada.The companies said that subscribers to Microcell's Fido Service with the requisite PCS cell phones will be able to track bank account balances, lines of credit and credit cards, and recent transactions from any location.
Additional remote applications can be delivered after deployment, "opening the way for Microcell and NBC to evolve their initial offering into a true one-to-one subscriber relationship builder," the companies said in an announcement.
The telephones' subscriber identity module, or SIM, cards are Cyberflex SIMera. They "allow us to provide customers with a user-friendly interface and secure transactions that are essential to the launch of our mobile banking services," said Sean Dillon, vice president of business development at Microcell Solutions, a subsidiary of Microcell Telecommu-nications Inc.
Gemplus License Aids Card-Reader Program
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. - Gemplus said that a license of its GemCore software technology to O2Micro of Santa Clara, Calif., will significantly improve the compatibility of smart cards with notebook computers.O2Micro, a supplier of integrated circuits that enhance the power-consumption efficiency of notebooks, is using GemCore as the basis for a card-reader program called SmartCardBus. It is designed to "dynamically reconfigure" itself to support either standard chip cards or the bulkier PCMCIA computer-card format.
"We believe that embedding the GemCore solution into notebook computers will further enable the quick and easy mass adoption and implementation of reader technology," said Thomas Hissam, a vice president in Gemplus' California-based information technology security group.
MasterCard Programs Chip Card Acceptance
PURCHASE, N.Y. - MasterCard International announced the beginning of a program to ease and encourage merchants' acceptance of smart cards.The Chip Acceptance Solutions Enabler, or Case, initiative brings together such MasterCard services as marketing, communications, education, and research. The association said it wants to improve and widen compliance with EMV, the terminal standard developed by MasterCard, its European affiliate Europay, and Visa International.
One example of its Case approach is in a multifunction card program sponsored by Mycal Card Co. of Japan with technology from Hitachi Ltd. that includes 12,000 point of sale devices.
Campus Card Supplier In Ticketing Alliance
RESTON, Va. - Cybermark, a smart card supplier for college campuses, has formed an alliance with Smartix Ltd. of New York to offer electronic ticketing and loyalty applications on-line.The two companies plan to target major and minor league sports fans through a Web site called sportsetickets.com.
Smartix has developed a range of benefits for sporting-event managers that include concession spending incentives, automated accounting, and a transaction method that eliminates the need to make change at stadiums, the company said.
"The beauty of this program is that the sports fans get more than just a ticket to the game," said Ray Katz, chief executive officer at Smartix; "they get a smart card with multiple functions."
