Visa pushes the smart move

Visa is driving the move to smart cards with its Smart Visa Ready program, which certifies qualified manufacturers’ products as compatible with smart Visa cards. Compaq have already been certified and plan to release PCs with Visa-ready smart card readers in the second half of this year.

Visa is also working in conjunction with Mastercard to push the move from magnetic strip cards to smart cards with a mandate specifying that all smart card updates must be completed by January 1st 2005.
Visa has set a deadline for POS terminals connected to VisaNet to support smart cards by the end of 2004.

According to Gartner Group the success of Visa program will depend on its consumer positioning, “network security will drive the market for corporate PCs shipped with smart card readers, but services accessed using smart cards will be key in the consumer market,” said a Gartner report.

The value of smart cards to consumers is the multi-functional service they provide, and their ability to reduce fraud, which should also improve consumer confidence in online transactions, added the report.