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[ About this FAQ ]
This page contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions, based on actual questions that APSCA has been asked in the membership application process by various organisations. APSCA provides a wide range of different services and benefits, which are not always of the same value to different organisations. What is valuable for a bank, transport operator or government agency may not be valuable for a smart card technology provider, systems integrator or consultant. The following FAQ is divided into general questions and questions which apply to certain types of organisations.
 What is APSCA and what does it do?
Is APSCA focused on smart card business or technology?
Is APSCA a standards organisation?
What level of international smart card contacts and networking can APSCA offer?
How can our organisation access the APSCA database of contacts? Is it available online?
What type of smart card information resources are available through APSCA?
What levels of membership are available and what are the costs?
What commitments are required of APSCA members when joining the Association?
How do we apply for membership and join APSCA?
Which smart card end-users should join APSCA - private sector companies or government organisations?
How does APSCA provide benefits and value to smart card end-users?
What is the key benefit provided by APSCA to end-user organisations?
Our organisation understands our own business and service very well - why would we need APSCA?
Our organisation needs to expand outside of our core business - can APSCA help?
How can APSCA assist us to promote our smart card business or scheme?
How can APSCA provide our end-user organisation with essential business and technical information?
What types of organisations join APSCA?
What other organisations are there similar to APSCA?
How can APSCA provide a sales and business development platform?
How can APSCA provide marketing, communications and "below-the-line" advertising services?
How can we follow up on the opportunities provided by APSCA events?
What other business services does APSCA provide to solutions providers?
How else can APSCA help solutions providers win and retain customers?
How can APSCA provide our organisation and our employees with critical business information?
What type of smart card information can APSCA provide to an IT consultant?
How can APSCA assist us with business development and sales lead generation?
How can APSCA assist us to advertise and promote our services?
[ General Questions ]
What is APSCA and what does it do?
The Asia Pacific Smart Card Association (APSCA) is a non-profit, independent association for organisations in the smart card industry in the Asia Pacific region. APSCA is the only professional association for smart cards covering the Asia Pacific and has over 60 members in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The Association delivers information, consultancy, guidance and networking to corporations and government organisations, including smart card scheme operators and suppliers, providing an unparalleled opportunity to solve problems, facilitate smart card initiatives and generate increased business development. Apart from organising more than 80 events, seminars, trainings and conferences covering all aspects of smart cards, APSCA has assisted government smart card projects, national card payment policies and initiated real business for APSCA members.
Is APSCA focused on smart card business or technology?
Almost everything that happens in the smart card industry, including success or failure, is determined by business requirements and commercial issues. For this reason APSCA is an industry association that focuses on the development of the smart card business. We strive to deliver services, find opportunities and recommend strategies which can benefit and grow the businesses of APSCA members, whether they are smart card end-users or suppliers. However this business focus is inextricably linked to the underlying technology of smart cards. It is APSCA's unique ability to understand the technology and its commercial implications which enables us to provide value to members.
Is APSCA a standards organisation?
No. APSCA is an independent industry association that has no connection with any national or international standards organisations. It is not APSCA's objective to define or set smart card standards and there are already sufficient standards organisations and bodies for smart cards. However APSCA closely follows the development of existing and new de jure and de facto standards for smart cards and, importantly, advises and informs members of the commercial implications of smart card standards on their businesses.
What level of international smart card contacts and networking can APSCA offer?
APSCA is part of Smartex, the world's largest professional body for smart card related businesses, technologies and services, with smart card forums and associations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia Pacific region. The entire Smartex group has over 500 members around the world and thousands of contacts in the smart card industry, ranging from companies and individuals that founded and established the smart card industry over 20 years ago to technologists and business people that are building new smart card organisations today.
How can our organisation access the APSCA database of contacts? Is it available online?
APSCA members can use the resources of the APSCA database of contacts by contacting APSCA offices with their specific requirements. The APSCA database of contacts is not available on line in the interests of the privacy of APSCA members. Furthermore, contact details alone are often not sufficient to establish a business meeting or to initiate a business development approach. A business introduction from a known, neutral, independent and respected industry association is far more effective in establishing a business meeting with the best chance of success.
What type of smart card information resources are available through APSCA?
APSCA provides an extensive variety of smart card information resources to enable members to stay on top of developments in the smart card industry. These include presentation materials from all APSCA events, industry journals, newsletters, press clippings, news headlines, as well as a rich online resource of professional papers available on the APSCA web site. Through an international membership network and many industry contacts, APSCA can also help you source specific information on any smart card business and technical subject. These information and knowledge channels provide APSCA members with significant advantagesin their smart card initiatives and businesses.
What levels of membership are available and what are the costs?
There are three available levels of APSCA Membership to suit organisations in the Asia Pacific region with different requirements. There is also an electronic membership option for companies based outside of Asia with no Asia Pacific offices that wish to follow developments in the region. To decide which level of membership best suits the needs of your own organisation, please visit the membership options section on this page. The cost of APSCA membership is inexpensive and designed to be within the reach of any organisation, requiring a monthly expenditure of a few hundred US dollars in return for business development opportunities and sales support information services that are not available elsewhere and provide real value-for-money.
What commitments are required of APSCA members when joining the Association?
APSCA is a resource for members and they are encouraged to make the maximum use of APSCA services but there is no required level of commitment or duties imposed on APSCA members. Unlike some industry associations, APSCA does not specify member involvement in any activities. APSCA's objectives are to provide real value and benefits for members without creating a drain on their time and resources. We operate the Association and deliver the services, while you reap the benefits. That said, the members that obtain the most value from APSCA are those that make the most use of the services provided.
How do we apply for membership and join APSCA?
Please visit the Become a Member section on this page to learn how to apply for membership and join the Asia Pacific Smart Card Association. The membership application process simply involves completing the online membership application form and paying the membership subscription [which can be done online or via bank transfer].
[ Questions from End-User Organisations ]
Which smart card end-users should join APSCA - private sector companies or government organisations?
The answer is that there are benefits to organisations in both the public and the private sector. This can be seen by viewing the list of APSCA Members which contains government agencies, banks, national banking organisations, card payments associations, telecommunications companies, transport operators, systems integrators and solutions providers. These end-user organisations understand that APSCA is the only smart card industry association for the Asia Pacific region that is not commercially motivated and provides unbiased information and services to its members.
How does APSCA provide benefits and value to smart card end-users?
APSCA assists end-user organisations, in the public and private sector, by providing a focus for smart card knowledge, expertise, networking and partnerships, on a regular basis across the Asia Pacific region. APSCA keeps members up-to-date on the latest technologies, standards, applications and market trends and provides guidance and consultancy when required. APSCA focuses on the business case and commercial considerations of smart card schemes as well as the implementation issues. APSCA provides opportunities for end-users to learn of smart card applications and developments in other countries and markets and examine their potential for end-users in their own market. APSCA enables existing and potential scheme operators to meet suppliers, in a non-sales environment, and assists scheme operators in evaluating their possible options.
What is the key benefit provided by APSCA to end-user organisations?
Private and public sector smart card end-users need trusted and independent information, guidance and assistance with their smart card projects and initiatives. This can only be provided by a trusted and independent organisation that does not sell, supply, advocate or promote any particular smart card solution, platform, technology or service. In the Asia Pacific, APSCA is the only regional trusted, independent body that can provide neutral information and credibly assist end-users in the public and private sector with the issues that affect their services and businesses. As a growing number of suppliers enter the smart card market offering solutions to sell to end-users and smart card scheme operators, this will be increasingly important.
Our organisation understands our own business and service very well - why would we need APSCA?
If your organisation has not previously worked with smart cards then you will be facing many unfamiliar technical, operational and business challenges. There is a lot to learn, and to continue to learn because the smart card business and technology develops rapidly. APSCA can help you with decisions you will need to make in adopting and using smart cards. APSCA can help you to evaluate and communicate with vendors. APSCA can help you to understand proposals and recommendations from vendors. This can help to avoid costly mistakes made by other end-users who discovered too late that ˇ°smart cards are more difficult than we thought.
Our organisation needs to expand outside of our core business - can APSCA help?
An increasing number of private and public sector end-users are attempting to use smart cards to offer new services to their cardholders which are outside of their traditional core service area (such as financial payments, e-commerce, digital identity or transport payments and ticketing, etc.). Based on the most extensive multi-sector, international knowledge and experience of the smart card business, APSCA services are particularly valuable in providing a channel for information, guidance and contacts that can assist end-users with these new and unfamiliar initiatives.
How can APSCA assist us to promote our smart card business or scheme?
In many cases, a smart card end-user and scheme operator is looking for channels to promote their smart card scheme to the market, the media, or both. APSCA can offer a variety of suitable channels and assistance, including co-organising, endorsing and branding events, arranging speaking opportunities at events, releasing information to the market, handling interviews and answering questions from the media, and others. These types of services are typically only required by commercial organisations, but some, such as providing independent opinion to legislative assemblies or answering media questions, may even be required by government agencies.
How can APSCA provide our end-user organisation with essential business and technical information?
Up-to-date, relevant industry information and market analysis is essential to the design, implementation and ongoing development of any smart card scheme or initiative. APSCA is one of the world's leading providers, as well as a source, of smart card business and technical information. With thousands of smart card experts with APSCA members around the world, APSCA is in the best position to track smart card developments for our members. Much of the information which APSCA disseminates [to members only] is not in the public domain and is known only to the industry [at the time of dissemination]. APSCA delivers such information privately to members on a monthly and weekly basis. APSCA also compiles reports and papers [but not statistics] on all aspects of the smart card business and technologies and delivers these to members. Because most of this information is delivered by email it is possible for APSCA to provide this highly valuable business information to every employee in an APSCA member organisation.
[ Questions from Systems Integrators and Solutions Providers ]
What types of organisations join APSCA?
APSCA members are either end-users [buyers] of smart card related technologies and services, in both the public and the private sector, or they are providers [sellers] of smart card related technologies and services. This can be seen by reviewing the list of APSCA Members, as well as the list of members of all the organisations in APSCA and our parent organisation, Smartex. APSCA is part of Smartex which is the world's largest professional body for smart card related technologies and services, with almost 500 end-user and supplier members around the world.
What other organisations are there similar to APSCA?
None in the Asia Pacific region. APSCA is the only pan-Asian, non-profit, business association for the smart card industry and its users in this region. APSCA has now been operating for over 8 years [our parent, Smartex, has been operating for over 12 years] and has a network of contacts and connections larger than any single private or public sector organisation. These contacts range from companies and individuals that founded and established the smart card industry over 20 years ago to technologists and business people that are building new smart card organisations today.
How can APSCA provide a sales and business development platform?
Over the last 8 years APSCA has held over 80 smart card-related trainings, seminars, conferences and events in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. The purpose of these events is to educate the market and provide a highly visible presence and platform for the smart card industry. These events have ranged in size from around 25 attendees to over 200 attendees. Some events are private and invitation-only and the information exchanged could be quite sensitive and not yet in the public domain. Others are very high profile and have received extensive coverage in printed media and on television. In organising these events we have worked with governments, national registration departments, financial regulators, global card payments associations, national banking and payments organisations, and APSCA members. APSCA has a reputation second-to-none in organising these highly relevant and successful smart card-related events that provide excellent business opportunities for APSCA members.
How can APSCA provide marketing, communications and "below-the-line" advertising services?
APSCA events provide excellent opportunities for solutions providers to market their products and services and to communicate and reinforce their brand to new and existing customers. These opportunities vary from large two-day conferences with extensive media coverage and benefits focused on entire industry sectors, to smaller, interactive events focused on specific customer and market segments. The opportunities available include sponsoring events [always significantly discounted for APSCA members], demonstrating products, speaking, or all of these in a combined event package. APSCA members are given priority choice for all of these opportunities, providing a highly valuable and effective "below-the-line" advertising channel.
How can we follow up on the opportunities provided by APSCA events?
After every APSCA event, a list of all delegates who attended the event, together with their contact details, is made available for APSCA members. The event delegate list is available to all Full and Associate APSCA members, whether or not they attended the event. This allows members to maximise the potential benefits from each APSCA event as it is usually impossible to meet all delegates when attending the event. When contact details alone may not be sufficient to establish a business meeting or to initiate a business development approach, APSCA can make a business introduction.
What other business services does APSCA provide to solutions providers?
Promotion of their products and services through the online APSCA Smart Card Products and Services Directory, annual strategy reviews, identifying new market opportunities, introductions to potential customers, recommending other solutions providers for partnerships, business matching, introducing overseas distributors for their products, introducing overseas solutions providers that are recruiting local distributors, telephone and email support for all employees in their organisation, registration discounts to attend other conferences not organised by APSCA, recruitment assistance for hiring smart card personnel, and much more - see the membership options section on this page for further details.
How else can APSCA help solutions providers win and retain customers?
Smart card end-users in the public and private sector need reliable, unbiased independent information and guidance from trusted independent industry organisations that do not sell, supply, advocate or promote any particular smart card solution, platform, technology or service. In the Asia Pacific region, APSCA acts as the only trusted and completely independent smart card industry body that can provide neutral information and credibly assist end-users in the public and private sector with the issues that affect their services and businesses. As a growing number of smart card solutions providers enter the rapidly growing, but increasingly crowded smart card market, offering products and services to smart card end-users and scheme operators, this will become increasingly important. Quite simply, APSCA can give you an edge over your competition by providing faster and more direct access to customers together with the credibility that comes from being part of Asia's only regional, non-profit industry association for the smart card business.
How can APSCA provide our organisation and our employees with critical business information?
Up-to-date, relevant industry information and market analysis is critical to the sales process of any smart card technology provider, systems integrator or consultant. APSCA is one of the world's leading providers, as well as a source, of smart card business and technical information. With thousands of smart card experts with APSCA members around the world, APSCA is in the best position to track smart card developments for our members. Much of the information which APSCA disseminates [to members only] is not in the public domain and is known only to the industry [at the time of dissemination]. APSCA delivers such information privately to members on a monthly and weekly basis. APSCA also compiles reports and papers [but not statistics] on all aspects of the smart card business and technologies and delivers these to members. Because most of this information is delivered by email it is possible for APSCA to provide this highly valuable business information to every employee in an APSCA member organisation.
[ Questions from Consultants ]
What type of smart card information can APSCA provide to an IT consultant?
A consultancy is expected to be highly informed on all issues, in relation to both the business and technical aspects of the subject on which they consult. APSCA provides the most effective platform available for staying on top of developments in the smart card sector through regular events, journals, news and press clippings, as well as a rich online resource in the shape of the APSCA web site. Via the APSCA membership and many industry contacts, APSCA can also help you source specific information on the most esoteric smart card business and technical subjects. Any consulting organisation can benefit enormously from APSCA's information and knowledge channels.
How can APSCA assist us with business development and sales lead generation?
Consulting companies usually have no products that generate revenue, instead trading their knowledge and experience by way of their most valuable resource, their consultants. As a result, a continuous stream of business is essential to keep their business profitable. APSCA can be an extremely beneficial vehicle for generating new contacts and sales leads and helping to convert these leads into business. The Association is often approached by its many public and private sector members as well as non-members, to recommend consultants for projects that they intend to outsource. APSCA can help to make the necessary introductions and ensure inclusion on tender lists.
How can APSCA assist us to advertise and promote our services?
Advertising and brand promotion for an IT consultancy is often a difficult business. The marketing message is not always easy to convey as the services provided can be diverse. Many consulting companies rely heavily on "below the line" advertising through participation in industry focused events as sponsors, presenters and workshop facilitators. APSCA is the most active organisation in the region in terms of organising and promoting events. APSCA membership brings many opportunities to participate in a host of events and conferences at many levels. These low cost opportunities can be very effective in developing a strong brand and conveying marketing messages to the industry.
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