Motorola Creates Unit for Smart Cards

Motorola Inc. said it has created a business unit to produce smart cards, devices about the size of credit cards that contain personal and financial information. Motorola is already the leading provider of microprocessors for smart cards. Its new unit will expand into producing the cards themselves, the products that read them and encryption technology to safeguard the information. Smart cards, used mainly in Europe, allow users to pay for items such as transit fares and airline tickets without using cash. Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola said its cards will be able to store more information than any other now on the market. It plans to target such industries as transportation and banking and expects to begin shipping products by year-end.