Infineon Technologies has become the sole chip provider for the most popular contactless microcontroller transportation card in China. In the last six months, Shenzhen Tong Ltd., the public transportation company, has issued more than two million “Shenzhen Tong” microcontroller cards in the city of Shenzhen, with volume expected to exceed three million by the end of the year. The cards incorporate Infineon’s security microcontroller. Shenzhen is one of the first cities in China to upgrade its transportation system to smart card technology.
The microcontroller cards are multi-application cards that can be used as tickets in public transportation as well as to pay for goods in stores. In the transportation sector, the metro and more than 10,000 buses have been fitted to use the cards. In the micropayment sector, more than 500 supermarkets, shopping malls, and convenience stores use the cards for payments up to Renminbi (RMB) 1000 (about 100 Euro). Shenzhen Tong Ltd. plans to deploy the card in all metro and public buses, as well as 3000 stores, by 2011. Deployment will also extend to private rental cars. More than eight million microcontroller cards are expected to be issued within the next three years.
“Besides providing the citizens of Shenzhen with convenience and better services, we have also decided to utilize the latest contactless microcontroller technology as our implementation platform to allow multiple and secure applications,” said Jia Jun Gang, general manager at Shenzhen Tong. “We are glad to have made the right decision to choose the Infineon SLE 66PE platform, and that the whole system is running smoothly.”
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