OTI and Atmel get first orders for PayPass chip cards
The first commercial quantity orders of contactless microprocessors developed for the MasterCard PayPass contactless payment programme have been received by Atmel Corporation, a provider of system-level integration semiconductor solutions, and contactless smart card solutions provider On Track Innovations.
Atmel and OTI were chosen to supply secure micro-controllers as well as an overall contactless solution that includes the operating system, application support, and inlay technology for the PayPass card orders. The solution has also recently received MasterCard certification after passing MasterCard's PayPass Card Technology Approval. OTI also anticipates orders for its card readers to be used in conjunction with PayPass card rollouts expected later in 2004.
PayPass provides a simple and contactless way for consumers to pay for small value transactions where speed and customer flow are essential (such as in quick-service restaurants, convenience stores, fuel stations and toll roads) - for example, the announcement of the forthcoming McDonald's roll-out of PayPass. PayPass contains a secure contactless chip and antenna inside the card, in addition to the card's standard magnetic stripe.
The chip used is an 8-bit micro-controller from Atmel's AT05SC product family, which is currently used for banking applications. The chip features 40KB ROM, 2KB EEPROM, hardware DES, and hosts Atmel's proprietary security mechanisms. It is compliant with lSO-14443B and ISO-7816 standards. OTI has worked on the PayPass programme from its early days, and has already integrated its Saturn 5000 contactless card reader solutions with multiple point-of-sale system providers to help support the PayPass programme.
"It is very gratifying to see the first fruits of the close teamwork between Atmel and OTI in developing and bringing to market MasterCard PayPass," commented Jeff Katz, Atmel's vice president of marketing.
For additional information: · Visit Atmel at http://www.atmel.com · Visit OTI at http://www.otiglobal.com