Infineon Technologies AG and Sony Corp. today announced a joint development covering secure ICs for contactless chip card systems. This technology would be used for secure authentication and identification functions in applications like banking cards, government or company issued ID cards and public transit electronic fare tickets.

The companies will combine Sony's FeliCa contactless chip card technology with Infineon's experience in secure chip card ICs and semiconductor manufacturing processes.

A contactless chip card has a special transmission module for over-the-air data communication, consisting of a chip and an antenna embedded in the card, so that the card does not have to be inserted into a terminal's slot.