Major smart card vendors shipped more than 224 million contactless banking cards in 2012, 23% of the total banking smart cards shipped globally by the vendors, up from 15% of total shipments in 2011.

In figures released today by the Smart Payment Association, or SDA, vendor group at the Cartes America conference and exhibition in Las Vegas, showed contactless payment cards, often part of dual-EMV credit and debit cards, were growing rapidly, especially in Asia Pacific and Western Europe, where shipments more than doubled.

All told, the vendors, which include France-based Gemalto and Oberthur Technologies, Giesecke & Devrient of Germany and Safran Morpho, also of France, shipped 66% more contactless banking cards in 2012 than in 2011–from 135 million to 224 million.

The six vendors in the group, which represent 85% of global shipments, said that they shipped a total of 975 million contact and contactless banking smart cards in 2012, 9% more than in 2011. The SDA said its shipment figures are compiled from data submitted by its six members to an independent third party.

The vendor group said there are various reasons issuers might be ordering the more expensive payment cards with a contactless interface, including be able to offer more convenience to consumers, increasing card usage and ticket size and paving the way for mobile-contactless payments, especially with NFC phones.

Contactless payment cards are being issued in such countries as Canada, the UK, Turkey, Poland, France and Australia, said the group.

But the Asia-Pacific region accounted for the most total contactless cards in 2012, with 80 million shipped during the year, up by 111% from 2011, said the group.

Western Europe took delivery of 62 million contactless cards, up 106% from 2011, said the SDA. The group said its members shipped an additional 29 million contactless cards to the Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa region, an increase of 34% from a year earlier.

And the Americas received 54 million contactless cards, up 17% from 2011, said the SPA.

All told, 89% of the contactless bank cards shipped globally by SPA members are part of dual-interface banking cards that can do either contact or contactless transactions. Dual-interface shipments increased by 77% in 2012.

The group did not include any figures on contactless point-of-sale terminals deployed in various countries, which are needed, of course, for consumers to tap to pay.

Visa Europe has said there were more than 700,000 active contactless terminals in place in shops, restaurants and other merchant locations in the region as the end of 2012, with actual usage reaching significant levels in the UK and especially Poland. 

The SDA vendor group also said that payment issuers are ordering more secure banking cards, with 56% of global shipments supporting dynamic data authentication, or DDA, or combined data authentication, or CDA. Both options offer higher-level encryption technology than lower-end static data authentication, or SDA, cards. That’s up from 47% of EMV cards shipped in 2011 supporting the higher-level encryption technology.