ASK opens up TanGO platform for Calypso contactless cards

ASK, provider of Calypso dual interface and contactless smart cards for the transportation sector, has announced that the worldwide leader in smart cards signed a license agreement to benefit from ASK TanGO Operating System.

'This new strategy strengthens transport operators decision to implement Calypso based fare collection systems. They are now offered multi-source smart card manufacturers. TanGO can clone such legacy cards as GTML, GTML2 and CD97 to carry on existing systems as well as provide new features and interoperability,’ said Patrick Sure, transport and banking business line manager.

TanGO has been developed to provide a customized and optimized Operating System of a new generation of cards based on various chip providers. It has been successfully implemented in Torino during the Winter Olympic Games when transport operator GTT and SITAF decided to go contactless with ASK cards and contactless paper tickets.
For mass transit application, the advanced security mechanism authorizes several transport authorities to share the same medium, each authority having its own set of secret keys and thus accessing the common contract. This feature and a customized file structure allows a smooth upgrade to true regional interoperability and multi-application.

‘The versatility of ASK’s TanGO platform allows us to combine GTT transport services with our own,’ said Ugo Jalasse, managing director, SITAF.