NXP, Gemalto, and Ingenico are the three highest ranked vendors within ABI Research's latest competitive assessment, which consists of market shares and three specific vendor matrices focused on secure ICs, smart cards, and POS/mobile card reader vendors.

Collectively, the three achieved scores well above average in the implementation category that measures global presence, breadth of services, partnership strengths, influence, and EMV/PCI standards compliance.

The companies were recognized for the following individual factors:

• Gemalto was rated high for contactless readiness and NFC developments. The company has participated in more than 45 NFC trials and has contactless payment cards already deployed.
• NXP demonstrated dominance within the transportation and ticketing and access control markets giving it an edge in market convergence.
• Ingenico scored well for broad contactless availability, a robust mobile POS solution, and established strategic partnerships with all the major payment networks including PayPal.

"Vendor competition within the payments market continues to heat up," said Phil Sealy, author of the Competitive Assessment. "As the market reaches higher levels of EMV penetration, the importance will shift to innovation. Contactless and NFC will become increasingly important and the next natural step in EMV progression from initial migration."

This competitive assessment provides a rating of the leading payment card IC, smart card, and POS vendors. A total of 18 companies were reviewed against 11 different criteria all under the categories of implementation and innovation in addition to a market share analysis. The findings are part of ABI Research's Payment and Banking Cards and Contactless Technologies  Research Service.

For more on this topic, visit the EMV research center.