Over 33% Market Growth for Contactless Smart Cards Predicted by 2020

The contactless smart cards market is expected to reach a compound annual growth rate of almost 33% in the banking sector by 2020, Technavio predicts. The IT security market is also likely to further expand profit for security software in the mobile payments and BYOD sectors by 2020.

As advanced security metrics are under development, smart cards and mobile devices face many challenges. Interest in IT security is growing, with some improvements already implemented such as multi-factor authentication for mobile payments and PIN codes for contactless smart cards.

The wider implementation of smart cards for access control, payment, transit and government ID has created a growing need for improved security software to prevent cyber-attacks.

“The rising need for a tamper-resistant system will be the key driver for the growth of this market,” Technavio analysts said. “Smart cards with magnetic strips have the capability to store financial information about end users. However, these cards can easily be tampered with, which will result in the loss of personal information or data. Since contactless smart cards with PIN codes are difficult to tamper with, they are increasingly being adopted to bolster the safety of the card holder”s accounts.”

The BYOD sector is also expected to reach 25% growth as the number of workers using their phones or tablets for both personal and work interest has significantly grown. As users access company data on personal devices and the number of sophisticated threats rises, company information is exposed to a large number of security risks.