INSIDE Contactless has announced that shipments of its MicroPass intelligent payment platform for contactless payment cards has surpassed 50 million units. According to the company, 'MicroPass is used to power more certified card products than any other contactless technology, providing issuers with broad choices for card manufacturing. Its low power and high performance, combined with the industry's fastest transaction time and outstanding read distance, enables MicroPass to deliver a superior cardholder experience for a broad range of innovative uses.'   » Continue Reading

CTST 2008, the largest payment, security and identification conference in the Americas, is being held this year May 12th through 15th at the Orange County Convention Center West, in Orlando, Fla. International industry leaders presenting during the Mobile and NFC Track include: 3G Americas, Aite Group, Authentec, Bay Area Rapid Transit District, Booz Allen Hamilton, Cassis International, Cellular South, Citibank, FireThorn, First Annapolis Consulting, First Data, Gemalto, Giesecke & Devrient, Infineon Technologies, Inside Contactless, Motorola, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, NXP Semiconductors, Sprint Nextel, StoLPaN, Venyon, ViVOtech and Vodafone.   » Continue Reading

The Smart Card Alliance’s first annual Payments Councils Summit held recently in Salt Lake City, Utah, reviewed the growth of contactless financial and transit payment markets in the US.   » Continue Reading

INSIDE Contactless has announced the MicroPass 4000 contactless microprocessor family, calling it "a next-generation platform designed to bring a host of new contactless applications to mainstream markets in the U.S. and elsewhere, with two initial product offerings intended for contactless payment applications."   » Continue Reading

First Hawaiian Bank has announced it has begun issuing MasterCard PayPass contactless debit cards provided by Giesecke & Devrient. "The Bank’s Priority Rewards MasterCard PayPass debit cards, powered by INSIDE Contactless’ MicroPass intelligent hardware technology, enhance the Bank’s traditional card offering and offer a secure and convenient payment method. G&D has delivered the contactless debit cards, as well as traditional magnetic stripe credit and debit cards, for First Hawaiian Bank card programs."   » Continue Reading

Kyocera Wireless and INSIDE Contactless have announced "a global collaboration to integrate INSIDE Contactless’ cutting-edge NFC solution for mobile payments in select prototype Kyocera mobile phones."   » Continue Reading

Card Technology reports on Inside Contactless' latest round of venture financing raising $25 million led by Granite Global Ventures. More details following from the Inside Contactless press release announcing the financing.   » Continue Reading

INSIDE Contactless has announced that its MicroPass platform has been selected as the initial chip platform for Wells Fargo's launch of its new Wells Fargo Visa Platinum and Wells Fargo Visa Signature contactless cards. On June 14th, Wells Fargo announced its plans to launch contactless credit cards. Peter Ho, Wells Fargo Card Services vice president and product manager, said at the time "we believe our customers will benefit from the speed and convenience offered by this exciting technology."   » Continue Reading

INSIDE Contactless has announced the closing of a €9 million ($10.6 million) financing round led by three new investors: Sofinnova, Vertex Venture Capital (Israel) and Visa International. Prior round investors GIMV, Vertex Singapore and Siparex have also participated.   » Continue Reading