NXP, the independent semiconductor company founded by Philips, and Giesecke & Devrient (G&D), a leading supplier of payment cards, services, and smart card solutions, today announced the introduction of NXP's new Fast Pay contactless security chip and a new line of G&D contactless payment devices based on this IC.
Fast Pay-based devices have been specifically designed to provide consumers in the USA and Canada with a convenient and swift contactless payment solution - replacing the need for cash and reducing transaction times.
In 2008 alone, over 70 million contactless smart cards were issued in the USA and this annual number is expected to rise to 100 million over the next 3 years. Combining G&D's strong position within the North American smart card market and NXP's leadership in security and contactless semiconductor technology, the new chip will be widely used for contactless payment applications, such as in G&D's Visa payWave and MasterCard PayPass cards. The EMVCo approved chip offers best in class contactless performance and its Data Encryption Standard (DES) hardware co-processor provides strong security and fast transaction times, all packaged within a small footprint.
"NXP's Fast Pay chip delivers a new industry benchmark in security, performance and flexibility for contactless payment devices," said Brian Russell, G&D's new Vice President of Payment Card Solutions in the U.S. "G&D is pleased to offer Fast Pay-based devices as an integral part of its product portfolio, ranging from cards to mobile payment stickers. As the leading provider of contactless payment cards in the U.S., ensuring full supply chain availability of contactless payment solutions is critical to meet the growing demands of our customers and Fast Pay allows us this flexibility."
"With over 250 million secure smart card chips shipped to date for eGovernment and banking applications, NXP has extensive expertise in contactless technology and security and a thorough understanding of the requirements in security-sensitive payment markets," said Steve Owen, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Identification, NXP Semiconductors. "The new Fast Pay IC has been designed in close alignment with our customers and is specifically tailored to provide consumers in the USA and Canada with a secure, fast and comfortable payment experience."
Fast Pay is ISO 14443 Type A certified and supports the latest MasterCard and Visa contactless payment specifications. Its DES hardware co-processor offers substantially higher security than pure software implementations. Fast Pay is supporting multiple form factors, including full CR80/ID-1 cards, fobs and stickers. The chips can be delivered in up to 250µm thick chip-packages, allowing extremely thin designs.