Press Releases
INTERAC® Partners with Global Leader INSIDE to bring Contactless Debit to Canada
July 15, 2009 (Toronto, ON) – Interac Association, Canada's leading payment network, today announced a partnership with INSIDE Contactless, the world leader in open-standard contactless chip technologies to develop chips containing the specifications for INTERAC's contactless payment service. This partnership will enable Interac Association and its members to offer their debit card users a "next generation" retail payments solution.
"We have sought out and are leveraging the best technology expertise available globally," said Mark O'Connell, President & CEO, Interac Association. "By partnering with INSIDE, we will be able to incorporate fundamental policies, strong consumer protections, which is a vital tenet for the Canadian market, and key features, all of which are unique to INTERAC."
Interac Association selected INSIDE for its expertise in contactless payments and the leadership position they have on a global basis.
"The small-ticket purchase segment in Canada, which is still dominated by cash and coin, represents green field territory for card payments, and although this market has been targeted time and again, it has been difficult to penetrate due to the lack of the right technology solution delivered at the right cost" said Shyam Krishnan, Industry Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. "The partnership between Interac Association and INSIDE Contactless goes a long way towards creating a viable solution, providing the technology and value proposition necessary to break the barriers to this market."
"INTERAC is the leading national debit system in the world, and we are pleased to be working with them and demonstrating the benefits of a strategy that partners two leading edge organizations," said Remy de Tonnac, CEO, INSIDE Contactless. "The INSIDE-INTERAC partnership will put a better and uniquely Canadian product in the hands of Canadian consumers, and bring a strong value proposition to the market."
About INSIDE Contactless
INSIDE Contactless is the global leader in open-standard contactless payment and Near Field Communication (NFC) semiconductors and software that power the next generation of payment, transit, identity and access control applications. The company's intelligent, microprocessor-based platforms offer the flexibility to be embedded in smart cards, mobile phones and other consumer electronic devices, documents, badges and other items to support a wide range of innovative contactless applications and bring new levels of convenience to users. INSIDE has delivered more than 300 million contactless platforms worldwide to customers and partners that include many of the leading payment card and mobile phone manufacturers, systems integrators and financial institutions. With a portfolio of 60 families of patents, including several essential NFC patents, the company has played a leading role in NFC and contactless innovation. INSIDE is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Warsaw, Seoul and Silicon Valley. For more information, please visit www.insidecontactless.com.
About Interac Association
A recognized world leader in debit card services, Interac Association is responsible for the development and operations of the INTERAC network, a national payment network that allows Canadians to access their money through Automated Banking Machines and point-of-sale terminals across Canada.
Interac Association was founded in 1984 and is comprised of a diverse membership that includes banks, trust companies, credit unions, caisses populaires, merchants, and technology and payment related companies.
Other INTERAC-branded and related services include: INTERAC Online, for secure online payments directly from a bank account, INTERAC Email Money Transfer, for the transfer of money from a bank account to anyone with an email address, and Cross Border Debit, for point-of-sale access at more than 1.5 million U.S. retailers.