MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.-The world’s smart card markets are creating high growth markets in regions not traditionally marketed for technological advances, according to a recent report from international market consulting company Frost & Sullivan.
Latin America and the Asia Pacific regions are forecasted for enormous growth, indicated the company. In the Latin American market, Frost & Sullivan estimates growth from $31.5 million in 1993 to $75.1 million in 1996, making the market the second largest smart card market worldwide.
Since areas like Latin America lack centralized data coordination, online services such as electronic banking and prepaid phone cards previously were not possible due to a lack of infrastructure. Smart cards, however, have changed the scenario because such services now can be offered off line, said the company.
Smart cards can be used for services such as Internet commerce, wireless communications, pay-television, banking and laundromats.
“The key characteristic of all smart cards is their enabling of higher security standards and offering greater multifunctionality than provided by a traditional technology such as magnetic stripes,” the report said.
But the threat to this technological advance is consumer concern for the loss of privacy, said the company. The consumer wants to know who gets to access the information.
