IMGCAP(1)]
A payment card that generates one-time passcodes designed to reduce fraud "soon" will face a test in Australia, an executive of the company that produced the device tells CardLine Global. Brendan McKeegan, CEO of Australia-based Emue Technologies, did not specify when the test would take place or which organization would test the cards. Last week, Barclaycard, the credit card issuing arm of United Kingdom-based Barclays PLC, and Visa Europe said they had started a test of a corporate card that incorporates Emue's technology to enable cardholders to access computer networks and make payments (CardLine Global, 14 May). Some 8,000 European banking customers are testing the cards in trials, McKeegan says. The battery-powered cards have an alphanumeric display, a built-in microprocessor and 10-digit keypad. Cardholders type in their PINs to generate the one-time passcodes used to access networks or make transactions. McKeegan declines to detail how much the cards might cost. Matthew Sinclair, executive director for Australia-based Carpadium Consulting, tells CardLine Global that, though cards with one-time passcodes offer a "very solid second-factor approach" to security, "the challenge with any kind of physical token is the cost of provisioning the device to the end user." A large-scale rollout of such cards "is a way off, but I can definitely see it being deployed as an opt-in feature for customers who might wish to pay for the extra security offered," he adds.
