Smartn

Pioneer in solutions smart card multi-applications, in Latin America.

Smart means agile, perceptive and innovative, and “n” represent the multiplicity of attributes that someone or something.

This is the Smart n. A perceptive and innovative that introduces multi-applications solutions in smart cards.

Our Mission

Be known by offer solutions and innovative services through the use of information technology, giving high value of our customers and partners business.

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A Little History

The Smart started its activities in June 2003, searching originally, work like work supply service of maintenance and software development basing on smart card technology, hired by ICI – Curitiba’s Institute of Information Technology in 2000, to give continuity and technological evolution of Quality Card Project, idealized by Curitiba’s Town Hall in 1997.

The control of smart card technology opened opportunity to provide services of maintenance of Electronic Tickets Sales Project, introduced by Companies’ Syndicate of Curitiba’s Collective Transport and Metropolitan Region in 2000, which the main objective is become easy the sales an the use of transport coupon to more than one million of users.

During the firsts months, the company focused in development of own technology – from now on simply called “Smart Technology”. Due to the success received in the firsts projects, the board knew uses the opportunities that opened to new business.

The experience and the visionary attitude motivated the board to get in the potential market using the professionals expertise to insert the smart technology in another platforms available and same time developing specialized consultancy in business related to information systems, associated with technology of cards and identification.

Other right company’s decision was to fix the concept of multi-applications to meet many easiness and services in only one card. This became possible the development of own know-how, specific to smart card technology, until then inexistent this market area, due to integration complexity of different technologies and tools, that demanded from professionals more than simple knowledge about information systems.

After the development and the implementation more than 10 projects in Brazil and Latin America, the company works in the market with main focus in Electronic Tickets Sales and Electronic Consignment.

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Distinctive Competence

The Smart is the first mover in development of concept of multi-application that put in advantage about some company in market. The company is positioned of unique way thanks to expertise acquired in projects of international repercussion and to management experience and specific of its board.

The most of Smart’s professional is from of companies that participated of projects with smart card technology desirable to work on search of compatible solutions with the market’s demand and the development of genuine projects, typical software’s area. This fact has generated the competitive advantage necessary to conquer of new projects in commercials competition, mainly in private companies.

The project’s in team spent the first year developing, implementation, testing and improving projects of hard conception, pressured by market’s requirement that no chooses the experience of companies after the closing of a contract.

All the merit due Smart’s technology development is part of the strategy adopted by board of search better markets professionals, invest in their capacity of tools’ control and in the creativity, beyond believe in a segment that generated many business in last five years.

Further to be the pioneer in development of specific software to application of smart card’s technology, the company gained the respect of collaborators and rivals involved in all projects that enjoyed, be by own initiative or through strategic alliances.

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About Smart Cards:

A smart card is a plastic card as a credit card, with a chip (processor) in it, constituting a pocket computer. This chip has the capacity to store until 5 different functions and a lot of informations, with a security mechanism very sophisticated.

With a lot of informations, the smart card became possible to the costumer to do shopping on pharmacies and supermarkets associated, without be necessary of regular money uses. Containing photo and pass word that an be transferred, the card can be too used to pay bills in restaurants, banking loan approval and gas supplying, between other services.

Can too replaces the old card that register the time who an employee enter or get out into the company, still common in some companies. Using as identification’s badge and key in systems to access and frequency control, it become easy the information’s sending and decrease common errors of conventional methods. The smart beyond of become easy the employee’s and visitors flow, link other services.

Its applications’ field can be very vast, because the flexibility of processor and the new utilities that still can be identified to the market of smart cards, to bearing the Moore Law (performance increasing and cost decreasing). Potentially, an unique smart card can replace all that we carry in an wallet, including credit card, driving license, identify card, money informations about health, motor or medical insurance, further the digital certification and biometric. More than a tendency, the intelligent card is a matter of time, since nice investment too means decrease costs.

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A Short History

The first experience of card’s use as way of payment is from 50’s, in USA, however manipulation’s costs, transaction taxes and fraud costs forced the necessity of become automatic the certification’s process, through cards with legible informations by machines. This happened with card magnetic stripe’s cards that allow digital data storage.

Its main deficiency is that some person can, by a reader, have access to stored data on the stripe and still modify or copy them. These cards cannot be store critical data and for this demand an extensive communication’s on-line network, to verification and processing. With model, can be pay a high communication cost, structure, loss in availability and high vulnerability to frauds.

Opposite of invest in this structure, the Europeans searched solve the problem investing in the customer side and made a big advancement about stripe’s card, implementation the ICC (Intelligent Circuit Card). This ICC’s are usually called “Contact Smart Cards” or chip cards. The first ICC patented is from 1968, in Germany, followed of use in Japan and France. The first mass use these cards were in phone cards, in France, but in 1986, this was being used, millions of cards were working. After the French Banks began the use of ICC’s, followed the Germany Banks in 1987. Currently, all the French bankcards are ICC’s.

The cryptographic security mechanisms advanced a lot so much in 60’s and cryptography’s models could be mathematically proved, the smart cards seemed an ideal way to security storage because, because can introduce cryptographic algorithms and store keys with secure way.

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Smart Card in Brazil

The technology debarked on public and privates sectors of Curitiba, Paraná’s Capital in the end of 1997. In this time, near than five thousand of municipal public employees received smart cards to work like professional identification, that allowed them too do shopping in credentialed supermarkets and take out them salaries. Today more them 30 thousand people uses the card in a vast credentialed network, that includes, markets, pharmacies, gas stations and banks beyond about 1 million of people that use the card in collective transport of Curitiba.

Curitiba was mentioned in Schlumberger’s site (www.slb.com.br), as the first world’s Smartcity.

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Smart Card Around the World

In some countries, more exactly in Europe, USA and Brazil, the smart card come being used in many applications and several areas, having is biggest use on replacement of physical money by digital money and in Electronic Tickets Sales.

The North America has the biggest market in smart card units, but if compared with dollar in financial movement, the European market is the biggest. The fastest growing in this segment is happening in Latin America.

Some areas pointed that are implementation the smart cards use:

- Telephone Technology:
- Banks
- CRM’s programs (Customer Relationship Management);
- Health;
- Transport;
- Logical access Control: Internet and computers network;
- Security;
- Physical Access Control: entry and exit of environment;
- General Business (food, parking, gas station, etc.)

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Market’s Forecast

The Smart Card technology can supply several uses. Some are still few common in Brazil, already others are only prototypes.

- GSM Phones: the phone is personalized by the user through inserting the card contains its call number in the network, like the bill and more often called numbers.

- Paid TV: used in the receiver equipment like a security device removable or to sign the information, adding the home banking and tele-shopping services.

- Loyalty: conform is registered a shopping in the card, the customer earn points that can return as benefits to next shoppings;

- Passport;

- Easy-pay: system that has become the payment more fast and easy;

- E-purse: electronic purse;

- M-payments (Mobile Payments): the payments are done by the cellular phone, through the GSM technology (The stations GSM – Global System for Mobile Communications – are equipped with SIM Card, and intelligent card that works as an identification customer module. The subscriber. The smart card brings the three basic functions to digital world, that are: a) certification; b) no refuse, to specific operation, c) strong cryptography, to guarantee the secret and integrity of user’s informations).

- T-commerce (Electronic Commerce through TV): shopping products using the TV, by the use of remote control and making the payment by entrances (set-top boxes) to smart card, that register the products payment.

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Market’s Global Opportunity to Smart Card

1996 $1.2 billions
2000 $7.6 billions
2005 $16 billions

In 1999 the SIM GSM number was about 200 millions and the forecast to 2005 is something like 1,5 billions.