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. Smart cards set to flood into Chinese pockets Author: (HOU MINGJUAN) "Cash or card?" More and more shops and restaurants have started to ask customers how they would like to pay after purchasing something or having a meal. Wallets heavy with cash are no longer a symbol of wealth in China`s cities, they are gradually being replaced by smaller ones containing several smart cards. Eight years after the Chinese Government launched the "Golden Card Project," which aimed to encourage people to use cards instead of paper certificates, integrated circuit cards, or smart cards, have become a must-have for many city dwellers. Smart cards have entered almost every corner of daily life. Even primary school students and retired grandmas have started using cards as their preferred method of payment. People are paid salaries by cards, they go shopping with shopping cards, dine with canteen cards, call people with mobile phones which are supported by SIM cards, pay utilities charges by cards, open doors with electronic keys, are fined by policeman with drivers` cards and their present ID cards will soon be replaced by smart ID cards which will contain numerous details about their owner. Wooed by the huge market potential - if every Chinese person had just one card the market would be nearly 1.3 billion - vendors of over 100 leading smart cards gathered together in Beijing last week to explore the new market. Although the Golden Card Project started eight years ago, smart cards have only become popular in the last two or three years, and are mainly focused in cities. About 230 million smart cards have been issued in China, most of which were used in the telecom sector with 120 million being public telephone IC cards and over 42 million mobile phone SIM cards. Market demand had already surpassed 300 million by the end of last year, according to Zhang Qi, director general of the State Office of the Golden Cards Project Co-ordination. Over 10 government ministries, including finance, information, public security, health, communications, land and resources, and tourism, have announced decisions to adopt cards for their daily services. If all these ministries encourage people to use smart cards, the market will report explosive growth with every adult owning at least five cards for ID, health care, insurance, banking and mobile phones. According to forecasts by the US-based research house Frost & Sullivan, about 3 billion smart cards will be in use worldwide this year. A subsidiary of China`s Ministry of Information Industry said 450 million smart cards will be in circulation in China. Industry insiders believe that China will become the biggest market for smart cards and early birds like Gemplus, Philips and Motorola have already set up Chinese factories to ensure they get a bigger slice of the cake. But under the rosy picture experts foresee problems that could hinder the rapid development of smart cards in China. When cards replace paper certificates and everything becomes electronic, how to protect people`s privacy and secure their property become key topics for governments, said Donna Farmer, president and chief executive officer of the Smart Card Alliance. China`s electronic payment system is not yet complete, smart cards are still limited to big shopping centres and larger restaurants. And most of the cards prevail only in big cities in eastern areas, few, if any, farmers in western regions use smart cards. Furthermore some high-income white-collar workers are troubled by multiple banking cards. The cards are not inter-connected and they have to carry all of them all of the time. http://www.chinadaily.net/bw/2001-06-26/16284.html . |
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| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | optimaxx (30.06.01 16:43:04) |
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