MasterCard International has reduced the price of its Multos-based 16K multi-application smart card to $1.99 and has secured new distribution deals with vendors in the US and Asia Pacific.
US-based Versatile Card Technology, Australia's KeyCorp, Security Plastics in New Zealand and Hong Kong's Toppan Form are amongst the vendors that will supply the $1.99 card, which was originally introduced under MasterCard's $2.99 chip programme in December 2000.
The $1.99 solution is part of MasterCard's OneSmart initiative and contains its EMV compliant M/Chip credit/debit application, the Mondex e-cash system and public key infrastructure (PKI) for file storage and identification.
MasterCard says the price reduction was made possible by the increasing numbers of smart cards now being issued.
Shuan Ghaidan, vice president, advanced payment systems, Asia/Pacific, MasterCard, adds: "MasterCard's vendor partners can now build on our previous success and provide our members with secure, sophisticated smart cards at an even more cost-efficient price."