NFC (Near Field Communication) equipped phones will be able to integrate Legic contactless applications, which offers endless combinations in total security for end-users. Legic has been paving the way with a pilot project with Swisscom and Selecta since May 2007.

Legic's card-in-card solutions also enable several contactless applications to be combined on one single card: Legic standard applications (e.g. physical access) can be combined with third-party applications for logical access, government ID credentials, credit cards or national ticketing.

Legic, Swisscom and Selecta are pursuing new paths with this NFC pilot project. In the Swisscom's modern buildings in Bern, Switzerland, Swisscom staff use their mobile phones to get chilled drinks, snacks and coffee from Selecta vending machines. The partners of this pilot project intend to convert the project into a real business model. Additional applications, such as the integration of Adasoft's secure access control applications used in all Swisscom buildings, will also be discussed.

NFC technology enables mobile phones to behave as conventional contactless cards and to connect to the network via mobile technology. Contactless applications can also work when the phone battery is empty or no network is available. The new solutions therefore combine the advantages of both technologies, providing more security, ease-of-use and availability.

The ability to connect a mobile phone to contactless applications is opening up endless possibilities with Legic's new card-in-card solutions. As over 100 different applications can be combined and integrated into a mobile phone, solutions can be customized according to individual needs. The combination of access control to buildings and PCs via PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) thereby saves costs by using a single chip solution. For high security areas Legic contactless solutions can further be combined with biometric finger print solutions or pin codes.

The Legic Master-Token System Control thereby guarantees centralized and impenetrable control over all issued identification credentials, be it mobile phones or traditional cards, which offers higher security than password-protected systems.

Legic's contactless smart card technology has been the world leader for several years. A valuable and active member of the NFC Forum, an organisation aimed at setting standards and advancing the use of Near Field Communication technology, Legic brings its broad expertise in the security area.

Legic is pushing the technology further forward with its card-in-card solutions. In the form of a virtual card, LEGIC functionality will be applied to dual interface cards or third party NFC mobile phones via the new embedded solution for smart card platforms.

Thanks to further extensions of Legic technology - there are already over 50,000 facilities with more than one million Legic readers in service - and to a worldwide licence partner network, the possibilities for building on existing and developing secure new, and even more comfortable solutions, are endless.

"We're expecting a lot from the NFC technology in connection with our Legic card-in-card solutions. We are world leader in contactless smart card technology for personal identification applications. The fact that the Legic all-in-one area can be integrated into third party cards and NFC mobile phones widens the scope of our technology and also makes way for new solutions for our partners, as well as providing advantages and comfort to the end user. In the future, it will be possible to go to work just with a mobile phone and to do without all the different cards", explains Urs A. Lampe, vice president product marketing & new business of Legic Identsystems Ltd.