1999-11-16 , ESC-9991
Business News From Philips Semiconductors

Philips Semiconductors and KEBT (Korean Electronic Banking Technology Co.) today announced a new smart object, which combines pager functions with smart card dual interface technology. Developed by KEBT, the new pager is the first to feature the Philips Semiconductors MIFARE® PRO dual interface IC (integrated circuit) and significantly increases flexibility and convenience for the user by combining electronic ticketing with electronic purse and banking applications.

Alexander Harrer, product line manager for chip card ICs at Philips Semiconductors explained, "KEBT's new multi-functional pager is already successfully used within the existing Hanaro MIFARE®-based public transport scheme in Pusan, Korea for convenient electronic ticketing in buses, subways and taxis. The device's flexibility allows secure re-loading from the user's bank account via the wireless paging network and proves the diversity of secure and convenient applications made possible by the MIFARE® PRO dual interface technology."

"Public transport is so far the only sector which has successfully used electronic money based on contactless smart card technology, and enhancing user convenience further required dual interface cards, to create a single device with secure contact and convenient contactless operation", continued Chungil Cho, KEBT's president. "MIFARE® PRO was clearly the best solution - it is compatible with the widely installed MIFARE®-based infrastructure in Korea, complies fully with ISO/IEC 14443 A and provides the required high level of security while supporting multiple applications."

For ticketing, the pager functions as a contactless smart card and is simply passed over the reader terminal, with the fare paid using money from the electronic purse. To re-charge the pager, users call the service provider, Booil Mobile Telecommunication Co., dialling a special service number. After authorizing the transaction with the bank, the service provider transfers money to the pager via the wireless paging network. Data is encrypted, transmitted at high speed to the pager and transferred to the MIFARE® PRO IC using its contact interface. The MIFARE® PRO IC uses the on-chip high-speed triple-DES co-processor to decrypt the data and store the value, which can be accessed directly via the contactless interface for payment.

KEBT estimates Booil Mobile Telecommunication Co. will eventually issue several hundred thousand pagers for the Pusan project, and is hoping to expand to MIFARE®-based schemes in other cities. In addition, KEBT plans to extend the pager or mobile phone's electronic payment function, having prepared the system to meet credit and debit card transaction requirements, including EMV (the Europay, Mastercard and Visa standard for credit and debit) and KEP (Korean Standard Electronic Purse). In future the pager could, therefore, be used as an electronic purse in participating local shops, as well as for e-commerce on the Internet. In addition, with the flexibility of the pager's MIFARE® PRO IC, other services could also be offered such as customer loyalty, access and secured personal data storage.

Fully in accordance with ISO/IEC 14443 A, Philips Semiconductors' MIFARE® interface technology is the industry standard for contactless smart cards and used in 85% of all contactless smart card schemes; with more than 45 million card ICs in use and over 450,000 read/write units in operation worldwide.

MIFARE® is a registered trademark of Philips Royal Electronics N.V.

Korea Electronic Banking Technology Co. (KEBT) provides optimized solutions for banking, transportation, communication and Internet applications, based on smart card and information technology. KEBT is currently leading the smart card market in Korea with the introduction of new services and technologies. The company's varied portfolio in traffic system solutions includes advanced public transportation systems, automatic fare collection for subways and taxi systems. Smart card readers, chip operating systems and smart card applications such as e-purse form part of KEBT's smart card capability. Banking and payment solutions, such as Internet payment and teller terminals also form part of KEBT's portfolio and ideally position the company as a leading smart card technology innovator.

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the eighth largest semiconductor supplier based on Dataquest's 1998 report*). Philips Semiconductors is a leader with a proven reputation in the development and production of high security controller ICs and contactless smart card ICs as well as in components for radio frequency identification. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by regional application labs. Additional information on Philips Semiconductors can be obtained by accessing its home page at http://cdrom.semiconductors.com/

*) Based on Vendor Revenue from Shipments of Total Semiconductors Worldwide according to Dataquest's 1998 Worldwide Semiconductor Market Share report published in May, 1999.