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With several factors at play, CPI Card Group Inc. is launching fresh card technology that reduces the amount of first-use plastics while providing issuers new formats and shapes for their credit, debit, and prepaid cards.
Announced Wednesday, the All-in-One technology using the Secora Pay Green technology has been developed in partnership with chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG. Munich-based Infineon says the technology allows the use of recyclable materials with card bodies made of up to 100% recycled materials. CPI says the dual-interface card technology is available now for pilots with issuers. As of the second quarter, CPI says more than 2.1 billion of its cards are in circulation.
Among the other unique aspects of the chip is that the contactless antenna, which in many current cards laces through the body of the card, is stacked adjacent to and above contact chip. This means issuers can choose virtually any shape for their cards. The chip-plus-antenna design also means a separate inlay within the card is not needed, saving materials, CPI says. Performance is on par with conventional dual-interface chip designs. The chip is almost twice the size of a regular chip, Infineon says. It retains the contact size for use when dipping the card into a point-of-sale terminal.
That’s important as issuers contend for the prized top-of-wallet status for their credit, debit, and prepaid cards. That’s an important factor influencing development of this card technology, says John Lowe, president and chief executive of Littleton, Colo.-based CPI. Another is the environmentally friendly nature of the materials. That’s important for a few reasons. The number of cards issued is not insignificant, with 3.2 billion shipped worldwide in 2023, according to the Smart Payment Association. Another factor is that Mastercard Inc. says, beginning in 2028, all cards bearing its mark will be made from sustainable materials.
Plus, there is the additional benefit from consumers. “They know when they see the chip that’s a little bit larger [that] their financial institution is investing in something that means something for the consumer,” Lowe tells Digital Transactions News. “It goes along with a change in mindset across the globe to move to more eco-friendly material within the technology and within the payment card itself.”
Infineon says the Secora Pay Green chip technology, which it calls coil-on-module, enables the chip, when the card is recycled, to be removed as electronic waste leaving the card body to be recycled. Conventional dual-interface cards are more difficult to recycle because of other copper antennae located in the card body.
Lowe says the All-in-One card costs more than a conventional card, but its costs could lower as adoption broadens. He declined to disclose detailed pricing.
