Turkey's Bank Asya has joined with MasterCard to launch a chip and PIN contactless card which can be used to pay tolls on the country's roads and bridges, along with several other applications.

As part of their “Payez Mobile” trial for contactless mobile payment, five major French banks are using Gemalto’s Allynis service offer. The banks are BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole-LCL, Credit Mutuel-CIC, Caisse d'Epargne and La Banque Postale Groups.

New York Times Technology Columnist David Pogue wrote a column about smart cards and the potential future of identification and payments. Pogue chatted with Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance for the column. Pogue was the keynote speaker at the 18th Annual CTST Conference this past May in Orlando, Fla.

Card solutions provider SOLIATIS has launched SOLIATIS LAB, testing laboratory able to perform debugging sessions as well as certification reports for smart cards and readers in contact and contactless technologies.

A new cooperative agreement between the GSM Association (GSMA), which brings together the world’s major mobile operators, and the European Payment Council (EPC), which the EU banking sector, could speed the adoption of mobile phone payments, or near field communication, across Europe and the world.

Visa has announced new global specifications for its payWave platform based on based on the international EMV standard. The company says the new global spec, called Visa Contactless 2.0, will ensure customers can use their contactless cards worldwide, while still offering the flexibility for customization to meet local market needs.

Plastic card manufacturer CPI Card Group, Littleton, Colo. recently announced two organizational changes to aid in its shift to a strategic initiative focusing on color technology as a core competency of the company.

Ken Keith, who has been instrumental in leading CPI's Fort Wayne manufacturing operation this past year through tremendous growth, has been promoted to director of color technology, while Gene Fogle will bring his more than 20 years' plant management experience to CPI's Indiana operation as the company's new manufacturing director.

One of the largest luxury hotel operators in the Middle East and a small hotel in West Kent, England, have selected Oiartzun, Spain-based Salto access control technology to secure their guest rooms.

Both the Ebla Cham Palace, a 500-room, five-star hotel in Syria, and the 10-room Brew House Hotel in Royal Tunbridge Wells, West Kent, England, made use of Salto's XS4 access control system and contactless technology to provide wireless door lock capabilities.

WhizzGo is a pay-as-you-go car sharing service that operates around the UK and pulled into Birmingham earlier this year, according to a Birmingham Mail story. As gas prices rise these sharing services as becoming more popular as people get rid of their cars.

The club issues participants smart cards and PINs which they use to make reservations online and gain access to cars. Once a member makes the reservation online they go to the location to pick up the car. They hold the card over a reader on the windshield that unlocks the car. Once inside a PIN is entered to access the car keys.

SCM Microsystems has introduced a contactless version of its CHIPDRIVE time recording solution for small and medium sized businesses. Employees can use the system to clock-in, clock-out and record time spent on specific projects with a touch of the CHIPDRIVE user chip token to the time recording terminal, eliminating the need to carry and swipe time cards.

The transit authority for New Zealand’s densest metropolitan area has prioritized the design and construction of a smart card ticketing system. According to a recently released plan of passenger transit project for 2008-2009, the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) has placed smart cards at the top of its plans.