JCB International, the overseas arm of the Japanese card issuer, has begun issuing hybrid contact and contactless chip cards to Taipei Bank in Japan.
The cards are being distributed to 3000 employees of local computer company First International Computers and offer credit payment, building and car park access control, payment at the company cafeteria and employee identification on a single card.
The contact chip contains the JCB EMV credit payment application J/Smart and provides protection against fraud. The contactless chip Mifare contains access control functions and is additionally being used to speed up payment at the company cafeteria. The smart cards have a photograph of the cardholder and are also used as employee identification.
JCB, which has already established plans for smart cards with the post-payment of transit fares, such as bus, subway and train, as well as credit card functions in Japan, says it is negotiating with other Taiwanese companies to introduce hybrid cards.