The contactless smart card market is witnessing remarkable growth due to
significant advancements in the e-passport and micro-payment segments.
While the U.S. Visa Waiver Program deadline forces participating
countries to hasten their e-passport rollouts, the future of the
micro-payment segment also looks promising, with its successful
introduction in North America, Europe and parts of Asia.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, World
Contactless Smart Cards Market, reveals that the market earned revenues
of $408.9 million in 2005, and estimates this to reach $1,636.2 million
in 2011.
“The e-passport segment made big strides as interoperability efforts
intensified, impelled by a heightened sense of urgency for more secure
and sophisticated travel documents,” say Frost and Sullivan Industry
Analyst Michelle Foong. “The payment market also saw increased uptake as
users across more developed markets warmed up to the idea of contactless
payments.”
However, the increasing use of contactless smart cards in payment,
transit and ID raises questions from privacy and human rights advocate
groups owing to the lack of and understanding about the technology and
the confusion between radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and
contactless smart card. While RFID tags are designed to be cheaper and
less secure for applications used in supply chain management and the
tracking of non-human goods, contactless smart cards are made to be more
secure and reliable so that even highly confidential and private
information can be transacted and stored.
“This confusion highlights the urgent need for market participants and
end users to crystallize their understanding of the two different
technologies at work here,” notes Michelle. “This understanding is
critical for tapping the full potential of the contactless smart cards
market.”
Therefore, vendors and government agencies should initiate greater
efforts to promote awareness and demonstrate that contactless smart
cards can be implemented in a highly secure method and can be relied on
for secure transactions in payment, health and identification. Besides
alleviating user anxiety, market participants should also address
transitory rollout issues.
“However, the market is really poised for growth given that these cards
are really proving their worth, in the convenience of contactless
micro-payments, rapid success in mass transit applications, and the rise
of mobile payments,” concludes Michelle.
The World Contactless Smart Cards Market is part of the Smart Cards
Growth Partnership Service, which includes research services in the
following: world smart card markets and world smart card IC market. All
research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market
opportunities and industry trends evaluated following extensive
interviews with market participants. Interviews with the press are
available.
Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been
partnering with clients to support the development of innovative
strategies for more than 40 years. The company’s industry expertise
integrates growth consulting, growth partnership services, and corporate
management training to identify and develop opportunities. Frost &
Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that includes Global 1000
companies, emerging companies, and the investment community by providing
comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global
perspective, and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies,
econometrics, and demographics.
