New research from the Smart Card Alliance shows that smart card usage in the US and Canada was 37% higher in 2000 than in 1999.
Some 28.4 million smart cards were made for use within the US and Canada in 2000, compared to 20.7 million in 1999 - an increase of a massive 37%. The fastest growing market segment was, rather predictably, the financial sector, which showed an increase of 244%. This growth is reflected in the feature article that The Wise Marketer published a month or two ago.
Vertical segments
The market was divided into nine vertical market segments, such as Government, Wireless/Telephony, Transit and Parking, Financial and Retail. Areas that achieved significant growth rate were Corporate Campus use (125%), Educational Campus use (116%) and Wireless (89%).
All major suppliers
The study was conducted for the Smart Card Alliance by KPMG's Information Risk Management practice. All major smart card manufacturers who supplied the United States and Canada in 1999 and 2000 were surveyed. The Alliance plans to report 2001 statistics in the first quarter of 2002. The Smart Card Alliance is a non-profit, cross sector association of over 185 member firms working to accelerate the widespread acceptance of multiple applications for smart card technology.
