More than 100 million smart cards will be in active use in SA by 2009, according to a report by World Wide Worx and Razor`s Edge Business Intelligence.
The report, Smart Card Trends and Deployment in SA 2004, indicates that the smart card industry is poised for an unprecedented explosion in SA, with three large-scale roll-outs set for 2005 and several more to come.
Although from next year all new credit and debit cards will be smart cards, requiring a roll-out of at least 12 million smart cards over five years, the single biggest project will be the new Home Affairs National Identification System (Hanis).
Hanis will require the replacement of identity documents with about 30 million smart cards during the same five years, the report says.
At the same time, Telkom and the mobile network operators are expected to add another 20 million cards next year alone, while all pension payments handled by the social welfare department are expected to move to a card system from next year.
"We will begin to see an unprecedented range of applications for smart cards from 2005 onwards, starting with the telecommunications cards we already have and extending to financial services," says Razor`s Edge Business Intelligence MD Bruce Conradie.
"But it won`t be long before almost every service that requires some form of identification or secure payment will take advantage of smart card technology."
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says smart cards are more secure than any other identification technology that is economically viable and available, can contain updateable information ranging from personal details to fingerprints to identification photos, and is far less prone to forgery than existing systems.
The report says the significant smart card roll-out will require major upgrading and acquisition of new equipment, as well as an understanding of what smart card technology is best for a purpose.
"The most promising applications we have seen so far involve pension payouts," Goldstuck says. "It shows how the technology can be used today by the most disadvantaged members of our society in the remotest areas and with a minimum of information at their disposal.
"Imagine how much more it can do for South Africans in the future."
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