Following the conclusion of pilot tests in the Summer, Cartes Bancaire is this week offering full-scale demonstrations of the c-Travel system for secure online flight, hotel, car reservations and chip-based payments at the Cartes trade show in France.
C-Travel is a European EMV multi-application business card project designed for business travellers to buy airline tickets, reserve a hotel room or rent a car online using a smart card reader connected to a computer, a mobile phone, or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).
Launched within the context of the European Commission's framework programme for Information Society Technology, the c-Travel project is being run jointly by Cartes Bancaires, SSB of Italy, airline reservation outfit Sita and Gemplus and Sagem.
Final testing of the programme took place this summer in Paris, Sofia Antipolis, Geneva, and London. Users provide proof of identity on the c-Travel server by inserting their CB bankcard in the connected reader, and entering a PIN. Once the session is open, cardholders can make secure online travel bookings (itinerary, date, price, etc,) using the digital signature associated with their respective card.
Once booked, users can view and modify travel plans from a dual-slot mobile phone or a PDA connected to the Internet. Boarding passes are obtained using a bankcard and PIN from terminals located in airports.
Consortium members have since extended the programme to include other European destinations.