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| Asia's No. 1 cards and payments show see spawning of "new currencies" to complement cash, cards | |||||||||
| Asia Pacific, Apr 25, 2011 - (ACN Newswire) - Cards Asia 2011 continues to be the preferred platform for sellers and buyers when introducing and sourcing new applications and solutions on smart cards and payments. On its 16th year, Asia's no. 1 cards show held annually in Singapore steadily provides participants strategic access to the region's high growth markets. Southeast Asia and India, with a combined population of 1.8 billion, are seen by the exhibitors as green pastures and "the happening place" for smart cards and payments. Co-located with synergistic events in Prepaid, RFID, NFC, Mobile Money, Retail, Transport Ticketing and Digital ID, Cards Asia 2011 drew over 6, 800 attendees from more than 50 countries this year. Highlights of the Cards & Payments Asia Conference include discussions on cashless future, customer loyalty programmes, fraud prevention, payments technology migration and strategies around increasing payment cards penetration in emerging and nascent markets. Mr. Dodit Probojakti, general manager, Cards Business, Bank Negara Indonesia: "Rather than "cashless", I think we are moving towards a "less-cash" society whereby consumers are feeling more comfortable using cards not only for big-ticket items but also for small value purchases. In Indonesia, we have 40 million unbanked customers that present a tremendous opportunity for debit and prepaid cards. We attended Cards Asia 2011 as we look upon the experiences of our developed neighbours, Singapore and Malaysia, in increasing the adoption of payment cards." Near field communication or NFC, a new and universal interface allowing payments among other transactions though simple touch, generated a lot of interest among buyers from Southeast and Middle East Asia and India. Mr. Koichi Tagawa, chairman, NFC Forum: "Higher population density in major cities in Asia and their orientation for easy and speedy transactions has paved the way for wide adoption of contactless payments based on plastic cards. Bringing this capability into handset devices through NFC technology is ideal since the market is contactless-oriented - it will not entail a lot of education for the Asian consumers. Going forward, what is key for the industry is to show consumers how easy and enjoyable it is to use NFC, while providing confidence that their transactions are secure." Cards Asia 2011 enjoys a strong foothold in the region with over 200 exhibitors from more than 20 countries. Among this year's participants is first-time exhibitor Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics, a leading Chinese integrated circuit (IC) design company who reinforced the potential of Southeast Asia and Indian markets as the next high-growth markets next to China. Mr. Mei Lijun, manager of international business, Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics: "We (company) have a well-established IC business in China with an extensive client base there. Part of our growth strategy is to increase our overseas business. With the vast population in India and Indonesia, we foresee these markets will have a high demand for IC chips. We consider Cards Asia 2011 as a strategic platform to meet potential partners in ASEAN and India. We have had productive meetings with prospective buyers during the three-day exhibition." Not only was the three-day exhibition an opportunity for buyers and sellers to connect, many participants also announced newly launched applications and solutions and gave a preview into the latest initiatives being introduced by their companies. Senior level bankers shared the status of their local payment systems, how are effectively marketing and keeping their customers loyal while tackling security and technological challenges. National Payments Corporation of India provided insights into Reserve Bank of India's latest initiative - Rupay - that is expected to change the face of the payment cards industry in India. The unique card will be the Indian card equivalent of payment processing firms such as Visa and Mastercard. Mr. Richard Ireland, chief executive officer, Terrapinn Asia: "We are thankful to our partners and exhibitors who made Cards Asia 2011 and all co-located events a huge success. Their strong support underscores the importance of the Asian region in driving smart cards and payments innovations and a testament to Cards Asia's impeccable track record in convening the cards and payments industry visionaries. We continue to see more relevant smart card applications and payment innovations being showcased in Cards Asia 2012." Cards Asia and its co-located events will be back from 25 - 27 April 2012 at Suntec Singapore. About Terrapinn Terrapinn is a Business to Business media company. Our products are trade exhibitions, conferences, training courses and print publications. For more information, please visit: www.terrapinn.com. About Cards Asia 2011 Contact: EASTWEST PR for Terrapinn
Melinda Ilagan / Laurent Decosse
Tel: +65.6222.0306
Email terrapinn@eastwestpr.com
Terrapinn Marketing:
Christine Lee, Marketing Manager
Tel: +65.6322.2301
Email christine.lee@terrapinn.com
Apr 25, 2011 Source: Cards Asia 2011 Topic: Trade Show or Conference Sectors: Credit Cards http://www.acnnewswire.com From the Asia Corporate News Network Copyright © 2011 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network. |
