Partnership Targets Billion Dollar Smart Card Market Denver, October 11 -- Racom Systems Inc. has entered into a multi-million dollar partnership with Rohm Co. Ltd, a Japanese company, to manufacture the ferroelectric chips used in contactless, battery-free smart cards. The deal also calls for Rohm to manufacture a new generation of advanced microprocessor-based chips currently under development for use in high-security financial applications. Rohm is currently starting up a new 0.6 micron wafer fabrication operation in Kyoto, Japan, dedicated to the high-volume manufacture or ferroelectric chips, and has licensed Racom's contactless, battery-free technology specifically for the Japanese market. Racom said the cards are already in use in over 100 installations worldwide. Racom spokesperson Laura Keane said the ferroelectric-based smart cards, which exchange information with readers via radio waves instead of being passed through a reader like a credit card, are used for electronic ticketing: automatic fare collection on buses, subways and trains, electronic point-of-sale, and electronic benefits transfer. Racom said the new cards are superior to the earlier smart cards that use conventional semiconductor technologies because of their unique combination of high-speed, low-power, non-volatile operation, and high reliability. The new smart cards have the ability to store as many as 16 different accounts, said Keane. It could hold your checking account, credit card account, let you pay for a bus or train ticket, and allow you access to controlled areas within your workplace. Keane spoke about some of the card's advantages. In automatic fare collection, users no longer have to carry the correct change or tokens, waiting times to board are reduced, and the risk of robbery of bus, subway and train operators is reduced since they have less cash on board. "It's a stored value card," said Keane. "You put money on the card and daily as you use it you wave it over an antenna and it deducts the fare for that day." Keane said electronic ticketing primarily benefits the frequent traveler. The user would simply wave their card over an antenna at a kiosk in the terminal after selecting their destination and class of accommodation for immediate ticketing. The card would have your seating preference and frequent flyer number recorded and would provide that information to the ticket machine. According to Jerome Svigals, publisher of Smart Cards & Comments and a consultant to the electronic banking industry, contactless technology is very valuable to the user because of its speed, convenience, ease of use, low cost and perhaps most importantly its security. "Even more significant is this smart cards' ability to manage multiple applications with contactless technology that ensures the highest long-term data integrity, especially important for electronic purse requirements," said the industry consultant. Press contact: Laura Keane, Racom Systems, 800-789-7627; Public contact: 800-789-7627.