Proton World and the Bankernas Kontantkort Cash Association (the consortium of
banks that operate the Proton-based CASH smart card scheme in Sweden, made up
of Nordea, SE Banken, Svenska Handelsbanken and Swedbank ) announced that the
members of the consortium will upgrade their existing Proton host system to
enable it to support smart cards based on the Proton Prisma technology.
The Swedish system is currently the third-largest Proton-based smart card
programme in the world, with 7,330,000 cards issued and 33,176 terminals
installed. The CASH e-purse is typically combined with credit and debit
applications on the same card, but up to now, these applications have used the
magnetic stripe technology. The four issuing banks in the consortium account
for over 85% of the retail banking market in Sweden. They also all have banking
activities and strong links with financial institutions across the Nordic
region.
The first part of the Swedish system to be upgraded will be the jointly-owned
Proton e-purse host and then each bank’s individual EMV (credit/debit) card
issuing system. The new Proton Prisma EMV application is compliant with the
requirements of Europay, MasterCard and Visa for the Swedish market. The first
Proton Prisma cards are scheduled to be issued in a pilot in October 2001 by
Nordea (formerly MeritaNordbanken). The EMV standard for
internationally-accepted credit and debit applications was devised by Europay,
MasterCard and Visa. It specifies the use of smart card technology and obliges
issuers to migrate to EMV-compliant systems by the end of 2005.
Proton Prisma is the new multiple-application smart card technology from Proton
World. The core of Proton Prisma is made up of CALC, a secure applications
management platform which is a spearhead implementation of the forthcoming Open
Platform 2.1 standard, and DFM, a toolkit for the creation of multiple
applications.
The Swedish Proton Prisma cards will contain the full range of Proton Prisma
applications, including ASPIC, a PKI-based authentication application and the
CEPS-based e-purse interface, with overall asymmetric RSA security. These
applications will be activated by the consortium members at a future date of
their deciding.
Tom Anderzén, Manager, Card Issuing at Swedbank and Board Member of the
Bankernas Kontantkort Cash Association, said “The CASH association’s member
banks very much appreciate the fact that, with the new Proton Prisma range,
Proton World can now supply them with a truly multi-application smart card
solution, which will create many new business opportunities in the
highly-competitive banking market.”
Armand Linkens, CEO of Proton World, said “We are not surprised that our
Swedish licensees are the first to adopt Proton Prisma, as the Swedish banks
are leading Europe in offering high-technology banking services via the
Internet, television and GSMs. Proton Prisma has been designed to deliver the
tools required to make electronic payments in all of these domains to
technologically-advanced customers, such as the Swedish banks, who will provide
optimum deployment fields for its flexible multiple-application capacities.”
BANKERNAS KONTANTKORT CASH ASSOCIATION operates the CASH e-purse system in
Sweden. The partners in the association are Nordea, SEBanken, Swedbank
(Foreningssparbanken) and Svenska Handelsbanken.
