PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The team of CARTES & IDentification and CARTES in ASIA is delighted to announce the launch of a new event: CARTES in North America, which will take place from March 5 to 7, 2012, in Las Vegas. Based on the international success and development of the existing CARTES events, CARTES in North America has been designed to aid companies and organizations in the smart card, digital security and smart technologies sector develop their business in the large and dynamic North American market.

The U.S. market is the largest market worldwide for payment cards: 576 million credit cards were in circulation in 2009 and 507 million debit cards (representing 37.9 billion transactions). The average consumer has 2.7 cards each (cardholders and non-cardholders combined), and the average number of credit cards per cardholder is 3.5, which is one of the highest in the world. However the annual card fraud loss is rising and represents 8.6 billion USD (0.8% of annual card volume). The U.S. payment industry is considering EMV¹ implementation and deployment to improve payment security and offer services to cardholders. In December 2010, Travelex launched a reloadable prepaid EMV debit card for Americans traveling in Europe.

Contactless payment cards are increasingly popular in retail, campus and transportation (contactless smart card-based fare collection systems are either operational or currently being delivered in many cities transit systems). About 21% of consumers currently have a contactless debit card, while 26% have a contactless credit card.

The arrival of NFC² phones should accelerate the mobile payment development in 2011. While mobile phones are an integral part of American daily life, their use is still primarily for person-to-person communication.

E-government and security applications are also booming, with the usage of the Federal PIV³ card for logical and physical security or the electronic health record (EHR) exchange.

(Sources: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Smart Card Alliance, Card World US Report 2010)

International companies in the payment, mobility and digital security industries are invited to participate in CARTES in North America to discover new market opportunities. An extended conferences program, elaborated by an international experts committee, will provide high-level content on Mobile Financial Services, Cards and Security and Smart ID, and other innovative sessions.

CARTES in North America is an event encompassing a professional trade show and conferences at the forefront of digital security and smart technologies for the North American market. For its first edition in March 2012, CARTES in North America will bring together international exhibitors to present innovative technologies in card manufacturing, payment solutions, identification and authentication solutions, mobility and digital security.

Highly qualified decision makers from bank and payment, telecoms, retail, government and transport sectors are expected over the three days of the exhibition, mostly from the United States and Canada. A three-day conferences program featuring international experts will provide a worldwide state of the art in the smart technologies.

(1) EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard and VISA, a global standard for credit and debit payment cards based on chip card technology.

(2) NFC: Near Field Communication

(3) PIV: Personal Identity Verification

25 years of experience in effective and international card business events

The CARTES team organizes the sector’s leading international event CARTES & IDentification in Paris, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010 with 432 exhibitors and 18,768 international visitors. CARTES has promoted smart technologies and presented the main market trends and innovations through the most appropriate forms including conferences program, SESAMES Awards, activity areas, specific exhibition and demonstration areas. CARTES events are organized by COMEXPOSIUM, the leading French professional trade show organizer, offering a high-level of services and premium quality standards for exhibitors and visitors.

About CARTES in North America

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