The German Banking Industry Committee has said that the introduction of chip cards has resulted in a helpful reduction in card fraud, including a 45 percent reduction in card-skimming at ATMs between 2010 and 2011, an article at Contactless News said.

Now the German banking industry will push the technology further, launching one of Europe's most extensive NFC trials in the Hanover-Braunschweig-Wolfsburg metropolitan area.

More than 1.3 million cardholders will be able to utilize the speed and ease tap-and-go-payment at merchants and gas stations through the "girogo" project. The contactless solution will enable signature- and PIN-free transactions of less than  €20 ($26.26).

The German Banking Industry Committee has partnered with Infineon Technologies on the project. The contactless cards will use an integrated security chip from Infineon that fulfills EMV security requirements for payment cards and meets the “Common Criteria EAL 5+ (high)” international standard, the Contactless News story said.

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