Standard Bank is in the first phase of implementing an integrated chip card technology that paves the way for multiple applications on a single smart card.
ACI Worldwide's ACI Smart Chip Manager allows the bank to issue and manage a large volume of multiple-application smart cards to meet the issuing requirements of EMV.
EMV is the global specifications defined by Visa and the recently merged MasterCard and Europay to ensure interoperability between chip cards and terminals.
Standard says it is testing the solution in terms of both the local and international environments.
The first phase of the implementation involves providing a limited number of internal users with a Standard Bank smart card certified by MasterCard, which can be used as a debit or credit card.
ACI, an international provider of enterprise e-payment solutions, says the system could be used to help government implement a number of services from national identity card schemes to electronic pension payments, as well as meet the needs of the unbanked population.
Standard Bank is also considering several other applications, it says.
Standard Bank director Alewyn Burger says the technology will allow the bank to issue credit-based single-application chip cards and then expand its offering to multiple-application cards when the market is ready.
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