Beepcard has developed ComdotTM, a self-powered electronic card that performs wireless authentication without using a card reader. The card transmits a user identification code to a PC, cell phone, or regular phone, enabling online authentication and physical presence in online transactions.
Comdot supports payment card legacy systems, such as magnetic stripe readers, smart chips and embossing. It can be implemented as a standard credit card, a membership card, or a gift certificate, and works both on the Internet and in the offline world.
The Comdot system will come as welcome relief to any system provider struggling to increase security rapidly on a mass scale, and to do so unobtrusively. ComdotTM is the ideal solution to the “reader” problem that has plagued mass deployment of smart cards. Indeed, these sound-based communications cards reach most transaction arenas that until now have been relegated to a status that the financial services world has always regarded as “card-not-present.” Also for healthcare organizations, transportation and communications networks and corporate computing systems, ComdotTM cards offer an important leap forward as an authentication scheme that is both secure and convenient.
The "Reader-Free" Revolution
How do we do it? By using "clientless" architecture and by creating an active, rather than passive, card device:
Clientless architecture. Any standard home computer can talk to Comdot cards, as soon as the card software is installed. The sub-100k card communications software applet can be embedded in any service provider web page or e-wallet system or can reside within any other software that is permanently resident on a user's computer. Either way, installation is simple and neat. The web-based version installs automatically on the user's computer. The resident version comes with a wizard that installs onto the user's computer in seconds.
ComdotTM Applications
Comdot turns every PC or phone into a secure point of sale, enabling secure Internet shopping, banking, and financial account services. Comdot and accompanying software provide online value in several core operations, such as:
Launch. One-click launch of web browser and direction to the card issuer's online services. One-click launch of e-wallets, online account services, or other value-added Internet services.
Authenticate. Online authentication of users. The proliferation of Internet banking, stock portfolios, and application service providers of all sorts increases the need for online user authentication. Comdot is a low-cost, physical, first-factor user authentication device that replaces vulnerable and easy-to-forget passwords.
Transact. Unprecedented physical presence in online transactions. The Beepcard card authenticates cardholders to their payment card issuers and e-merchants, greatly reducing the problem of on-line fraud. Because the presence of a Comdot card in transactions can be proven, cardholders shop online without fear of credit card theft. The result: increased consumer trust in e-commerce. The presence of Comdot technology in an online transaction reduces the likelihood of purchase dispute and repudiation.
Posted by graeme at April 19, 2004 02:30 PM | TrackBack