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Setting the scene for this year’s World Card Summit, CARTES Network Exhibition Director Isabelle Alfano stated that the changes brought about by smart cards “could be more significant than those brought about by the Internet revolution”.

A small French start-up company which is not even exhibiting at CARTES has become the toast of the show with an innovative product which scooped two prestigious SESAMES Awards – in the Mobility and “Discovery” categories. Tim Baker, Think&Go NFC Marketing and Communications Director, believes his company’s double win says a lot about the credibility of the SESAMES Awards and of CARTES itself. “We are not an exhibitor at CARTES,” he laughs. “We are a very small company. We’ve already won prizes in special

Oberthur Technologies revealed an industry first at CARTES 2013 yesterday when it announced a technique to produce colour photographs on a polycarbonate card. The breakthrough promises to greatly improve the security and durability of secure ID globally, the company says. Called Lasink, it is the very first technology to generate colour pictures by laser engraving, a significant advance for high-security identity cards.

SIMalliance, the global not-for-profit industry association which simplifies secure element (SE) implementation, has published the first release of its Open Mobile API Test Specification (v0.9) for public consultation and it is using CARTES 2013 to ask “mobile industry stakeholders with an interest in the Open Mobile API to post their comments on the document which will be made available online from the SIMalliance website.” And, it says, “the Open Mobile API Test Specification is particularly relevant to

A fingerprint-activated biometric payment system, a holographic display case and an interactive, gesture-controlled changing room mirror activated by RFID clothing tags were three of the latest innovations on show at the Innovation Centre of Contactless Technologies (CITC EuraRFID) stand in the Smart Shopping Zone at CARTES 2013.

Zebra Technologies Corporation is presenting its newly-completed ZXP Series direct-to-card printer portfolio at CARTES 2013, highlighting the ZXP Series 1 which offers “a high-performance, entry level printer that meets low volume printing needs”, according to the manufacturer. If you go to the Zebra stand, also check out the firm’s recently enhanced ZXP Series 3 card printer for improved printer performance. “The recent enhancements and completion of the ZXP Series portfolio are in response to listening to

From January 2014 smartphone users will be able to scan QR codes on L’Oreal product labels and buy them using HexaPay’s “store to mobile meta-wallet” purchase solution. It is the latest advance by the startup in its efforts to bring easy, one-click style purchases to smartphone users. HexaPay is agnostic in terms of mobile platforms and payment systems as its application operates through users’ phone browsers to complete a purchase when they scan a QR code or wave their phones over an NFC reader, said Micha

Wincor Nixdorf is highlighting four key cashless payment innovations at this year’s CARTES, allowing visitors to take a closer look at the Wincor Nixdorf mobile e-wallet for paying remotely and in-store via a smartphone; the EFT POS electronic funds transfer point-of-sales single gateway system; a new android-based mobile payment tablet computer; and the company’s mobile money transfer services for mobile wallet and store-value-based applications.

Software security and authorisation specialist VASCO Data Security International is launching DIGIPASS 760, a new visual transaction signing solution at this year’s show.

Giesecke & Devrient and Infineon have joined forces to provide “contactless smartcards compliant with the CIPURSE Open Standard in Volume Quantities” and will be able to discuss here at CARTES 2013 how these new cards “are being used today in Brazil”.

On-demand card printer Evolis is using CARTES 2013 to introduce AVANSIA, a new printer loaded with all the latest retransfer technology. With the retransfer system on AVANSIA, “card printing is performed in two steps”, says Evolis. “First, the card layout is printed through thermal transfer; then the print layer is transferred from the film to the card.” And, says Evolis, the entire surface of the card comes out “crystal clear with text, microprints and watermarks in 600 dpi resolution.”

First-time CARTES exhibitor Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments is focusing on a strategic realignment, which opened its payment processing platform to non-subsidiary companies. The aim of the move, says the company’s Hervé Gachen, was to maximise payment volumes and so minimise costs for both subsidiary companies and other users.

The European Mobility Group recently announced its new president and secretary who will serve for an initial three-year term. Campbell McKee, former managing director and latterly chairman of Unwin Safety Systems, and Jacqui Jones, executive director of Mobility Choice, the charity behind the Mobility Roadshow and Get Going Live! events, were unanimously voted in by the EMG members as president and secretary/treasurer respectively.