MasterCard International Inc has now finished testing its Smart Card technology for storing money electronically on credit and debit cards against the EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specification for Payment System. The specification set by Europay International, MasterCard International and Visa International, or EMV, was developed to ensure Smart Card compatibility. MasterCard worked with Digicash BV, Belgian developers of electronic money technology, to develop the electronic purse application and will present its findings to the EMV group. The specifications will be updated by the second quarter and will then remain static for 12 months so chip-based developers and manufacturers will have a standard to work to. Mastercard will begin piloting the technology next year.
