DAILY BRIEFING
DoD Tests 'Smart Cards' for Pay
The Treasury Department's Financial Management Service and the Defense Department Wednesday began a year-long pilot program that uses "smart card" technology and a fingerprint identification application to compensate soldiers at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
More than 18,500 Army recruits at Fort Sill will receive "stored value cards," which will be used for $4 million in salary payments for training-related costs and personal purchases.
"This pilot program enables FMS to evaluate leading-edge smart card technologies," FMS Commissioner Richard Gregg said. "We expect these technologies to gain increased acceptance in the future as they provide purchasers with safe, convenient and easy access to their money."
The cards, which resemble credit cards, contain an integrated circuit chip instead of a magnetic strip to provide more memory and security, said Frank Gurka, stored value card coordinator at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. The cards store money as electronic cash.
To execute transactions, a recruit will insert his or her card into a point-of-sale terminal and place his or her index finger on a biometric sensor that compares the fingerprint to the cardholder's fingerprint on the card's microchip. If the two prints match, the transaction is authorized and the cost of the purchase is deducted from the card.
Gurka said the smart cards will be more convenient for soldiers.
"When recruits were paid in cash, if they lost the cash, there was little hope of recovery," he said. "With the card, if the recruit loses the card, their name is on it and it can be returned. They also don't have to remember a [personal identification number] or lose the value on their card if it is lost."
Other FMS/DoD smart card pilots are underway at Fort Knox, Ky. and Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
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