Smart cards are a unique blend of three major technology areas: state-of-the-art silicon memory
technology, passive and active security, and microprocessors with high performance but
extremely low power consumption. A typical smart card looks like a credit card with a silicon
chip. The chip is activated through a characteristic set of contacts or through a radio link. New
form factors have started to appear with different shapes and interfaces.
Memory-only smart cards
In memory-only smart cards the chip is a simple memory block with interfaces. These are used
primarily for payment systems, such as public telephones and services. While this is currently the
highest volume segment, the average prices are lowest, and the market growth is low. Total
production in 2001 was 1.25 billion units, rising to 1.7 billion units by 2005.
The other four market segments are technologically more interesting because the card contains a
processor as well as memory, interfaces and security blocks. Taken together, these segments will
show growth from around 700 million units in 2001 to over 2 billion units in 2005. They consist
of SIM (phone), financial, government, and other uses. Though they are well-defined today, their
boundaries will merge and change over time with the advent of multi-function cards.
SIM cards
SIM cards are a well-known component of most cellular phones, and their inclusion in nextgeneration
specifications has guaranteed this will continue. The smart card is the part of the
phone that is owned/controlled by the operator, rather than the handset manufacturer, so this is
where the key to value-added services will reside.
2001 was a poor year for handset sales, so estimates of SIM shipments are around 320 million
units. This is estimated to increase to 550 million units by 2005, depending on the world
economic recovery, and uptake of third-generation services. SIM cards have various functions,
the most important being to provide secure network access to authorized users, and to allow
service personalization and a superior user experience.
The hardware that has evolved to meet these requirements comprises a 10mm2
chip based on
0.35-micron technology, with 32K or 64K bytes of EEPROM, and 1-3K of RAM. The processor
is generally 8-bit, either 80C51- or 6502-based. In addition to the processor, there are other
hardware blocks to perform security functions.
Financial smart cards
The banking industry has used plastic cards for identification purposes for many years. But the
traditional magnetic stripe has proved very easy to duplicate and copy, so security concerns are
driving a change to smart card technology. This market segment shipped around 150 million
processor smart cards in 2001, a figure which is set to rise to 430 million in 2005.
Banking smart cards also employ 8-bit processors, along with EEPROM, ROM and RAM
memories. Additionally, they usually incorporate a block of logic that assists with cryptographic
functions. This is required because, to prevent message interception and decoding, the
specifications for handshaking are very tight. The 8-bit microcontroller is not capable of running
the cryptography algorithm fast enough to comply with this time limit by itself.
The operating system on a banking smart card has traditionally been proprietary, but recently a
secure standard operating system (Multos) has become popular. This is the first operating system
to pass all the standards for operational security. On top of the operating system are a series of
applications that provide the complex handshaking associated with signature and secure
certificate authentication.
32-bit smart cards
It is apparent from this brief market analysis that there is significant development in smart card
requirements. The main drivers are security, the ability to run advanced operating systems,
addressing larger memories, and the need for more general-purpose processing.
32-bit RISC processors have a long track record of delivering much higher performance than 8-
bit microcontrollers at the same clock frequency. For instance, it can take around 20 times more
clock cycles to perform a task on an 80c51 processor than a MIPS32™-based 32-bit RISC
device. This extra efficiency can be turned into lower power consumption, by reducing the clock
frequency, or to achieve extra functionality. An example could be to insert additional instructions
in the software to confuse hackers.
E-payments and smart cards
E-payments are payments that are initiated, processed and received electronically. The
electronification of payment services started many years ago and has reached a high level of maturity in
many European countries. The first stage of innovation, process innovation, changed the way interbank
payments are processed but went almost unnoticed by the public. Further stages of innovation were more
visible, since they affected the way that customers interacted with their banks.
Smart Wallet Benefits:
CIB is offering you a new service that enables you to:
- Create a wallet account on your mobile
- Deposit money to the wallet
- Pay all your bills, Ticketing, and Top-up mobile
- Transfer money from the wallet to another wallet
- Withdraw Money from the wallet from any CIB ATMs or any of our agents
- Purchase (Pay for goods) from any merchants that have MasterCard Mobile Misr Logo
- Issue a virtual online card with your desired amount to be utilized for online purchases
FAQ:
How can I register to the service?
- Visit the nearest CIB branch
- Fill in a registration form
- The representative will register your data on the system
- Instantly you will receive SMS contains (Download URL and Activation Code)
- Download Smart Wallet App
- Enter the registered mobile number and accept the Term and Conditions
- Enter the Activation Code received by SMS
- Initiate Mobile PIN (M-PIN) (six digits)
- Your Smart Wallet is ready to transact
Required documents: Valid Mobile Number, Valid National ID
How can I deposit money in my Smart Wallet?
- You can link your Debit/Credit/Prepaid Card to your Smart Wallet (CIB Customers Exclusive). Only through CIB branches.
- You can go to any Smart Wallet agent from our network to deposit money into your wallet.
- Through CIB ATMs (Cardless transaction).
How can I withdraw money?
- You can go to any Smart Wallet agent from our network to withdraw money from your wallet.
- Through CIB ATMs (Cardless transaction).
Can I have more than one wallet on the same mobile?
- No, each mobile number can register one wallet only.
What if my mobile or SIM card is lost/stolen?
- Call the call center (19716) to suspend your Wallet
- Get a new mobile/SIM
- Contact the call center to instantly resend the activation code
- Then the wallet will be used normally (with the same info/balance and M-PIN)
What if I want to change my mobile number?
- You will need to cash out all the money in your wallet
- Contact the call center and close your wallet
- Register a new wallet on the new number
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