A product developed by JSE-listed secure electronic payments company, Prism Holdings, which enables payphones to accept high-security prepaid and electronic purse cards, has joined a handful of payment terminals worldwide as "Proton-certified".
This means the Prism iTIM (Intelligent Telephone Interface Module) complies with the standards of the world`s most widely used smart card platform.
Proton is a prolific and successful e-purse technology with national-scale Proton-based schemes operating or licensed in 24 countries. These include Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Switzerland in Europe, and developing countries such as Malaysia and Mexico.
The Malaysian Government`s Multi-Purpose Card (GMPC) which replaces the Malaysian national identity card and driving licence, includes a Proton e-purse branded locally as "MEPS (Malaysian Electronic Payment Systems) Cash".
Launched in July last year, over 600 000 GMPCs were in circulation by the end of last year, with predictions rising to 19 million GMPCs by the end of 2008.
"Telcos in countries with Proton e-purse schemes simply have to upgrade their existing payphone base with iTIM, to enable their phones to authenticate the smart card and `extract` payment from it," explains Prism iTIM product manager, Leon Fouche.
"Telcos don`t have make large capital investments in new payphone technology: iTIM provides for a transparent interface between the new card technology and the existing payphone. Indeed, the phone `believes` it is interacting with an old-style card.
"By securely authenticating the phone card to the payphone, iTIM eliminates the counterfeit cards being used, thus minimising fraud.
"By enabling payphones to accept the e-purse, both the payphone user and the telco benefit: the consumer does not have to have the correct cash change available to use the phone, and the telco reduces the risk of handling large amounts of cash.
"And in regions with unstable or inadequate power supplies, iTIM`s low power consumption allows it to be powered from a standalone telephone line, along with the payphone it resides in. If the telephone works, so will the iTIM module - even during electrical power outages or in remote rural areas without electricity.
"The achievement of Proton certification for the Prism iTIM is a clear indication that Prism is well placed to take advantage of developments in the smart card market," Fouche concludes.
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Proton World was created in 1998 by American Express, the worldwide travel, financial and network services company; Banksys, the Belgian EFT network provider; ERG, the Australian-based worldwide mass transit systems and contactless smart card technology specialist; Interpay Nederland, the EFT network provider to the Dutch banks; and Visa International, operator of the world`s largest card payment system, with 21 000 member financial institutions.
JSE-listed Prism Holdings is a world leader in the secure electronic transaction market. With a growing presence in Europe and South-East Asia, Prism is one of the few companies in the world offering services solutions and products that bridge the following core technologies:
* Security - sophisticated cryptographic security solutions, many developed using own intellectual property resources;
* Payment solutions in the physical and virtual (Internet and wireless) realms;
* Smart card technologies spanning both wireless communications and electronic payments.
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