Infrastructure Constraints Hampering the Growth of the Indian Smart Cards Market

Implementation of a smart card project requires a significant investment in setting up and upgradation of the current infrastructure. The cost of implementing a smart card based system is very high compared to the cost of smart cards.

A new study published by IMARC Group, one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms, finds

that the Indian smart cards market is currently at the threshold of a revolution. Smart cards are not only

rapidly replacing paper and magnetic stripe cards wherever they are in use but have also started

penetrating into sectors that had remained untapped so far.

Despite its strong growth, however, findings from the report suggested that the development of the Indian

smart cards market is currently being hampered by a number of infrastructure constraints. According to

the report, implementation of smart cards in a government organization or business establishment

requires a significant investment in setting up and upgradation of the current infrastructure. The cost of

implementing a smart card based system is very high compared to the cost of smart cards.

Since most organizations in India are still paper based and not IT enabled, it makes

implementation of smart cards even more expensive.

In the banking sector, currently around 99% of the total cards issued are based on magnetic

strips and implementation of EMV based bank cards has been slow. This is mainly due to the fact

that only 50% of the current ATMs with nominal software and hardware upgrades can accept

EMV chip cards. The remaining ATMs would require significant hardware upgrades, or even

replacement, to enable EMV chip card acceptance.

Apart from setting up a smart card infrastructure, its efficient management is also critical to run a

smart cards project successfully. The failure of the “Go Mumbai” smart cards project is a perfect

example of this fact. The Go Mumbai card was first introduced in 2007 by BEST and later on

extended to central and western railways local train services. But the project crashed after Kaizen

Limited, the company involved in the project, failed to supply enough number of hand-held

devices to check the cards validity. Apart from this, inappropriate maintenance of the

infrastructure also led to the machines having technical problems and some even getting shut

down.

IMARC’s new report entitled “Indian Smart Cards Industry Market Report & Forecast 2011-2016”

gives a deep insight into the Indian smart cards market. The research study serves as an analytical as

well as a statistical tool to understand the market trends, structure, drivers, restraints and the outlook of

the market till 2016. This report can serve as an excellent guide for investors, researchers, consultants,

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marketing strategists, and all those who are planning to foray into Indian smart cards market in some form

or the other.

What We Have Achieved in this Report

Comprehensive situation analysis of the Indian smart cards market and its dynamics.

Identified all application segments/sub-segments and quantified their current and future market

potential.

Provided a robust long range value and volume forecast for all segments and sub-segments.

Provided an understanding of key drivers and restraints and their impact on current and future market performance.

Smart Card Application Segments and Sub-segments Covered in this Report

Telecommunication National Population Registry Project Financial Services

Credit & Debit Cards Financial Inclusion PAN Cards

Travel Identity Driving License Registration certificates Passports

Automatic Fare Collection Metro Rail Projects Bus projects Indian Railways

Healthcare Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme

Public Distribution System

Focus of the Analysis for Each Segment & Sub-segment

Segment/Sub-segment Overview

Smart Card Implementation Scenario

Historical and Future Smart Card Volume Demand

Historical and Future Smart Card Value Demand

Focus of the Analysis for Each Segment & Sub-segment

Segment/Sub-segment Overview

Smart Card Implementation Scenario

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Historical and Future Smart Card Volume Demand

Historical and Future Smart Card Value Demand

Methodology

Initial Exploration of the Indian Smart Cards Market: Conducted secondary and primary market

research to complement/enhance our current knowledge and define key market segments and sub-

segments.

Qualitative Market Research: Interviewed various industry stakeholders to gain a comprehensive insight

on all major segments and sub segments. This included understanding key metrics and events such as

smart card requirements, current and future demand, implementation timelines, success and risk factors,

costs, etc.

Quantifying the Current &Future Market Potential: Consolidated our results to quantify the value and

volume potential of smart cards in each segment and sub-segment.

Validating Our Results: Collaborated with industry stakeholders to validate our results and findings.

Information Sources

Information has been sourced from both primary and secondary sources:

Primary sources include industry surveys and face to face/telephone interviews with industry

experts.

Secondary sources include proprietary databases and search engines. These sources include

company websites and reports, books, trade journals, magazines, white papers, industry portals,

government sources and access to more than 4000 paid databases.

To buy the complete report or to get a free sample, please contact:

IMARC Group AsiaEmail: apac@imarcgroup.comPhone: +91-120-425-6531

IMARC Group North America Email:  america@imarcgroup.comPhone: +1-631-791-1145

To know more please visit: http://www.imarcgroup.com

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