GeldKarte is a German national payment system for small amounts based on contact smart cards , built on the principle of " electronic wallet ", when the cardholder has only the amount that was previously entered on the chip (by replenishing via ATMs, terminals and the Internet) .
The system has been introduced since 1996 and is used primarily for payment in parking and ticket machines, as well as for verification of age when buying cigarettes in machines. When making a payment, you do not need to enter a PIN code , and the terminal itself works offline (all transactions are recorded on the seller’s chip installed on the card reader).
It has a low maintenance cost (the seller pays 0.3% of daily revenue, at least 1 cent per transaction), a guarantee of receiving payment from the bank and wide distribution of the system (the chip is installed on 80% of all bank cards in the country, although only 15% of all chips are activated ) In 2010, 45 million payments were made for a total of 129 million euros with an average payment of 3.02 euros; as a whole, 600 thousand terminals accepting the card are installed in the country. In many transport companies, when paying for a paper ticket in the machine, a discount is provided by the system card.
There are two types of cards:
- a chip associated with a current account, integrated into a payment card and replenished through an ATM;
- an account-independent card sold to anyone who wants it (WhiteCard) and replenished through the bank's cash desk and terminals with two card acceptors.
Card chip ( ISO 7816 ) is available for use in applications such as:
- verification of the minimum age (required for cigarette vending machines; verification is possible only for client bank cards);
- payment tool on the Internet (provides for a reader);
- online banking (HBCI);
- qualified digital signature for use in the e-government program;
- paperless electronic ticket in public transport (BSAG Bremen transport company), at events and for car parking;
- integration into the pass to control working time, with the possibility of making payments in schools, universities and enterprises;
- accrual of bonuses as part of the loyalty program.
The chip uses the symmetric DES encryption algorithm in Cipher Block Chaining Mode or Cipher Feedback Mode. To provide imitation protection, authentication protocols are used in authentication protocols. The issuing bank maintains a “shadow” balance account for each card, which allows to identify cases of card abuse, but in case of loss of the card, the amount on it is not returned.
Based on the system, applications using contactless cards are being developed.
See also
- Universal electronic card