UK credit card operator Barclaycard is to test an e commerce scheme using smart cards later this year in association with Europay International, a payments system based in Waterloo, Belgium. The trial will entail staff at BarclaycardÆs headquarters making purchases over the Internet via a specially installed kiosk for that purpose, containing a computer with a smart card reader attached, communicating with EuropayÆs Smart Card Payment Protocol (SCCP). While guarding cardholders from the theft of their account number by hackers, the scheme does, not, of course, protect them from the actual theft of their card. For that purpose, said a Barclaycard spokesperson, the company is studying the use of fingerprint recognition technology.
