Smart Card News Online

Visa Europe reveals plans for Visa payWave advertising campaign for London

Visa Europe has announced 'Visa payWave, the fastest way to pay' as the strap line for the launch of a UK advertising campaign to highlight Visa payWave contactless payment cards.

Joe Clift, Visa Europe senior vice president of brand management commented, "We wanted to capture the feeling of speed and convenience with this bold, bright campaign which has a different look and feel to other Visa advertising. We are launching a media campaign to raise consumer awareness of the distinctive new Visa payWave technology which is set to revolutionise the way we pay.'

The outdoor advertising will kick off from 24 September and run for between six and eight weeks and will be focused around key commuter hubs including Waterloo, Canary Wharf, Bank, Paddington and Liverpool Street stations. This is in addition to placements in press and digital media. Saatchi and Saatchi created the visuals for the campaign and mediaedge:cia is the media buyer.

A barcode pattern will be incorporated into the 'wave' visual as the universally recognised symbol of purchase and payment. The barcode visual was developed to tell the story of the new contactless payment technology.

The barcode then morphs into speedlines, emanating from the new Visa payWave card, growing into a dramatic graphical visualisation of speed and dynamism. The creative realisation of the wave involves a unique combination of 2D and 3D modelling programmes to heighten the sense of speed and iconomism attached to 'Visa payWave: The Fastest Way to Pay.'

De La Rue Delivers Gulf Region's First ePassport for State of Qatar

The State of Qatar has chosen De La Rue Identity Systems to supply an integrated end-to-end ePassport solution, providing it with an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) compliant biometric document which includes the latest high security features and is integrated into Qatar's existing eID scheme.

De La Rue has supplied Qatar's travel documents for over 15 years. De La Rue's latest integrated solution incorporates ePassport documents, MIDIS document issuing system and the recently launched SIPS 500e for automated ePassport personalisation. Used in conjunction with De La Rue's secure laminate MLIS, SIPS 500e automatically both encodes the chips with the holder's personal and biometric data and personalises the physical document. Sophisticated tracking and audit control features ensure that the secure laminates and passports are recorded and tracked as the document moves through the system. This provides the reassurance that every passport issued is a unique document, properly assigned to the correct individual.

James Thorburn, Managing Director of De La Rue Identity Systems, commented, "We're very proud to be working in partnership with the State of Qatar to launch the region's first ePassport. The new document will enable the Government to offer an enhanced level of service and security to its citizens and visitors, marking a new phase in passport issuing in the Middle East. "

Physical Security Essential For RFID Pharmaceutical E-Pedigree systems

According to the survey released by MIKOH Corporation, pharmaceutical and distribution decision makers are now recognizing the importance of e-pedigree information to protect against shrinkage, diversion and counterfeiting highlighted by the fact that 67 percent of respondents have experienced pharmaceutical tampering in the past. To protect their products better, 95 percent of respondents identified RFID as the ideal solution to protect pharmaceutical integrity during manufacturing and distribution.

The MIKOH survey revealed that simple RFID is not enough to ensure pharmaceutical product integrity. An overwhelming 76 percent of respondents stated that RFID tags must be physically secure to safeguard against shrinkage, diversion and counterfeiting.

The survey clearly illustrates that physical security is critical for the success of RFID based pharmaceutical e-pedigree applications. MIKOH's Smart&Secure technology provides RFID tamper evidence to meet e-pedigree requirements. In the basic configuration, tampering a Smart&Secure tag renders it inoperable. A more complex tracking configuration allows the compromised tag to continue functioning after tampering, with the tampering detectable by an RFID reading device.

"Government e-pedigree mandates provide certainty within the pharmaceutical supply chain from the manufacturer to the end-user," said Andrew Strauch, vice president of product marketing and management for MIKOH. "Tamper evident RFID is essential within these mandates to protect both the pharmaceutical user, as well as the pharmaceutical manufacturer's multi-billion dollar brands."

Electronic pedigree systems are used to uniquely identify and track drugs from factory to pharmacy.

Fargo release Scalable ID Card Production Software

Fargo Electronics, Inc. has launched OnQueue Card Production Software, a scalable application that transforms multiple stand-alone ID card printers into one centralized system for large-volume card production.

"Before OnQueue, large-volume card programs had to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in massive, stationary card printers, or purchase individual printers attached to individual PCs for decentralized card production," said Glenn Bottomly, Fargo's director of product marketing for ID software and systems. "Neither option has the efficiency or ROI that OnQueue does. The large, stationary printers can lead to financial risk and slower ROI if lower than planned card production volumes lead to excess capacity. And they can bring production to a standstill with a single technical problem. Using individual printers attached to PCs can become inefficient as production needs increase, and it can become difficult to see the 'big picture' of what is really happening out in the production system. With OnQueue, users can centrally manage the printers they need for the print jobs they have."