Swiss card issuer Cornèrcard is to modify its Visa payWave contactless payment cards to incorporate ID credentials and access control applications.
Cornèrcard says it will use Transponder technology from Swiss chip card technology outfit Legic to convert the card to a multi-application credential-enabling access control device. This will extend the use of the credit cards beyond pure payments to incorporate access to leisure or club facilities, as an e-ticket for public transport or identification badge for car sharing.
Giovanni Bettoni, manager of special projects at Cornèrcard, believes that innovation is key to offering a good customer service: "Our contactless Visa payWave card will allow our customers not only to use the card for payment transactions, but also to extend the use to access applications - which are growing fast in Switzerland and abroad."
Setting up the Legic transponder functionality on the card does not require an additional chip, he says. The applications are instead stored in a secure virtual multi-application transponder on the micro-controller of the credit card.
Urs Lampe, vice president product marketing and new business at legic, says: "Bringing together the world of payment with the world of physical access and multi-applications bears a lot of potential for card users, issuers and merchants. It makes the world simpler for card holders and creates new opportunities for the use of the cards leveraging contactless multi-applications in leisure and business."