Executive Director’s Letter

Dear members and friends of the Alliance,

The anticipated announcements from the Federal Reserve pertaining to debit interchange fee limits and what considerations, if any, will be applied to those rates for issuers and merchants who meet new higher, yet to be defined, security standards are nearing. The speculation about what will happen varies widely based on which side of the business you identify with–the fee-generating side of the issuers or the fee-paying side of the merchants. With literally billions of dollars at stake in the outcome, tensions are high, and opinions, like the Unites States political climate today, are very polarizing.

SCALA Associate Director’s Letter

Dear Smart Card Alliance Latin America (SCALA) members and friends,

As some of the industry is returning from spring break or carnivals, it is clear that time passes too quickly for all of us to accomplish all our desired goals. Time management is a great tool used by managers to prioritize the limited time we have available to complete competing tasks. I always start the week by listing our goals and then dividing them into four categories: urgent/important; important/non-urgent; urgent/not important; and non-urgent/not important. Unfortunately, for some people, everything on their plate is urgent and important due to their job responsibilities.

Member Profile

This month Smart Card Talk spoke with Joerg Borchert, responsible for Chip Card and Security for the region Americas for Infineon Technologies. Joerg Borchert was born in Hamburg, Germany. He studied Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. He achieved his PhD in Economics before he joined Siemens AG in 1988. Initially Joerg was on the staff of the Corporate Board of Directors handling Mergers & Acquisitions in Munich, Germany. In 1992 he joined Siemens Semiconductor which became Infineon Technologies in 1999.

Feature of the Month

Smart Cards and Biometrics: Use Cases

Smart cards are widely acknowledged as one of the most secure and reliable forms of electronic identification. To provide the highest degree of confidence in identity verification, biometric technology is considered to be essential in a secure identification system design. Combining smart card technology with biometrics provides the means to create a positive binding of the smart card (a difficult-to-clone token) to the cardholder thereby enabling strong verification and authentication of the cardholder’s identity.

Upcoming CSCIP Training and Exam Dates

Visit /activities-leap for registration information.

New CSCIP/G Accreditations

Congratulations to the LEAP members who have successfully completed the requirements for professional accreditation as Certified Smart Card Industry Professionals / Government.

View the entire list of Certified Smart Card Industry Professionals / Government.