ERG Group, the Australian chip card outfit which recently took total control of Proton World, has licensed Motorola's Venus platform smart card technology for the manufacture of contactless chip cards.
The license includes certain exclusive rights in Motorola’s copyrighted Venus technology, software and associated source code. The Venus technology is Proton World certified and can support high-speed contactless smart card transactions. It is the first platform to combine a contactless transit application and a Proton open electronic purse on a dual interface smart card. It is currently used by ERG in transit projects such as San Francisco, Rome and Manchester.
Viv Miners, ERG chief technology officer, says the Venus platform is complementary to the Proton acquisition. "The two transactions are significant steps in ERG's strategy to penetrate markets beyond the transit sector."