Infineon Technologies Launches SECORA™ Pay Green, World’s First Contactless Payment Card Technology, Reducing Plastic Waste by Up to 100%

Infineon Technologies Launches SECORA™ Pay Green, World’s First Contactless Payment Card Technology, Reducing Plastic Waste by Up to 100%

• SECORA™ Pay Green lays the foundation for a greener payments industry of the future

• Eco-friendly coil module (eCoM) packaging uses recyclable materials, with a card body recycling rate of up to 100%, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions from raw material procurement and logistics by more than 60%

• Infineon is working with major global card manufacturers and payment solution providers to prepare for mass production

[Munich, Germany, November 7, 2024] Infineon Technologies AG has launched SECORA™ Pay Green technology. The card design based on this technology will produce the world's first fully recyclable contactless (dual interface) payment card body using environmentally friendly and local materials, laying the foundation for significantly reducing plastic waste and CO2 emissions in the payment card industry.

Environmentally friendly payment cards

The progress of SECORA™ Pay Green will pave the way for initial pilot projects with card issuers. In addition, Infineon is working with leading payment card manufacturers and payment solution providers to prepare for mass production. As the industry develops, the successful implementation of the first pilot projects will help promote the use of environmentally friendly payment cards.

Infineon's SECORA™ Pay Green is pioneering a new generation of payment card technology. Conventional payment cards require a separate copper wire antenna embedded in the card and use various material layers including inlay foil. These material layers and the copper wire antenna covering the entire card make conventional contactless payment cards almost impossible to recycle easily. In contrast, Infineon's new SECORA™ Pay Green solution uses a new eco-friendly coil-on-module (eCoM) package that contains the security controller and various software components and integrates the contactless antenna, setting a new standard for recycling dual-interface payment cards. At the end of the card's life, the entire eCoM package can be removed from the card and disposed of as electronic waste. The homogenous card body can then be recycled as plastic, wood or paper, depending on the material. The integrated antenna also reduces costs and emissions associated with transportation and procurement. This new module design reduces CO2 emissions associated with raw material procurement and logistics by more than 60%. By using the innovative eCoM environmental module, SECORA™ Pay Green reduces emissions to 27.10 kg CO2e* for the production of 1,000 cards, compared to 90.08 kg CO2e** for the standard card system.

Traditional payment cards and Infineon SECORA™ Pay Green payment card technology

“As a global semiconductor leader in power systems and the Internet of Things, Infineon is committed to driving decarbonization and digitalization,” said Thomas Rosteck, President of the Secure Connected Systems Division at Infineon Technologies . “SECORA™ Pay Green not only sets a new standard for sustainable payment cards, it also lays the foundation for a greener payment industry in the future. By reducing CO2 emissions and simplifying recycling, we help financial institutions and card issuers to have a positive impact on the environment while meeting the growing demand of customers for environmentally friendly solutions.”

“Since 2018, Mastercard and industry partners have been working together to develop better, more sustainable payment card solutions. Current products have proven that payment cards can be made from renewable resources and improve recyclability,” said Joe Pitcher, Vice President of Sustainable Card Programs at Mastercard. “We support innovative products like Infineon’s SECORA™ Pay Green that demonstrate a willingness to reduce environmental impact through innovative thinking and product redesign. Mastercard encourages suppliers to pursue more ambitious emission reduction targets and innovate their product portfolios, like Infineon.”

“This chip from Infineon is a game changer for the card industry,” said Toni Thompson, Executive Vice President of Credit and Debit Card Solutions at CPI . “As a leading card manufacturer, CPI has a long-standing strategic relationship with Infineon and has already incorporated this new chip into a variety of card materials to help our customers become the cardholders’ first choice. The SECORA™ Pay Green chip furthers our move toward a more environmentally friendly environment while continuing to provide convenience and innovation to our customers.”

“Part of Perfect Plastic Printing’s mission is to find renewable and recyclable products for card manufacturing. Our long-standing collaboration with Infineon Technologies has enabled us to identify these alternative card manufacturing materials that have a lower environmental impact and carbon footprint,” said Mike Sabatini, Senior Vice President of Manufacturing at Perfect Plastic Printing. “The introduction of the new SECORA™ Pay Green solution will enable card manufacturers and banks to continue to issue innovative, secure cards while reducing double-digit carbon emissions in the card manufacturing process.”

SECORA™ Pay Green is a plug-and-play solution that can be easily implemented in existing dual-interface card production facilities, further accelerating adoption. Another feature of the eCoM module is its ability to interact seamlessly with the smartphone antenna. This brings many advantages to consumers, especially the high convenience and ease of use in "tap-to-pay" scenarios. In addition, the solution can also use a variety of sustainable card materials such as recycled PVC (rPVC), rPETG, PLA, ocean plastic, wood and even paper.

Research shows that customers are increasingly favoring financial institutions that prioritize sustainable banking. In fact, the vast majority of consumers want their banks to offer environmentally friendly payment cards. In addition, the number of laws and regulations related to environmental protection in the financial industry is also increasing. It is predicted that by 2028, the number of payment cards made from recycled rPVC will increase to approximately 1.2 billion worldwide, a nearly five-fold increase from 226 million in 2022. (Source: ABI Research, 2023)

* Kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent (kg CO2e), used to compare the climate impact of different products

** October 2024 US CoM and eCoM Product Carbon Footprint Report