Infineon Debuts Employee ID, Mastercard Payment Card

Infineon Technologies, which works as a semiconductor manufacturer, is doing away with employee identification cards at its Germany headquarters and instead implementing a new smart card solution that combines office building access and Mastercard contactless payments capabilities, according to a FinTech Intel report.

The new tech is called the Campeon Card, according to the report. In Munich, employees will be able to enter buildings, make cashless payments and transmit their digital business cards using near-field communication (NFC).

The card was created in partnership with Mastercard as well as PayCenter and payment services provider petaFuel, the report stated.

Infineon will work on managing and issuing the employee ID cards, which will be compliant with the EMV standard for the chip-based payments and readers used around the world, according to the report. With that, the Campeon Card will find use in the coffee machines and company restaurants, alongside outside facilities where Mastercard is acceptec.

“Contactless technologies are convenient and hygienic which has never been more important than today to protect us from the … pandemic,” said Thomas Rosteck, president of Infineon’s connected secure systems division, according to the report. “But contactless smart building solutions that combine multiple functions in one card are also becoming increasingly important in the long term.”

Ludwig Adam, chief technology officer at petaFuel, said the connections and partnerships would help offer new card technologies, the report stated.

“By connecting to Mastercard and the existing infrastructure, our mobile payment app VIMpay offers an ideal platform for companies and public authorities to introduce individual smart card applications with payment features and to modernize their building infrastructure,” he said, according to the report.

Employee expense cards have seen transformations in recent times, with many more cloud-based solutions that are affordable for smaller companies.

Some of the other innovations will include more ways to promote compliance and spend visibility for employees who are increasingly less willing to use their own money rather than a corporate card.