He said non-technical issues such as implementing the right policies are the biggest challenge in smartcard rollouts.

The right standards and policies will extend the life of the card system.

"But the single most important factor in terms of security is how the cards are issued to the population," Brandewie said.

"While the underlying infrastructure may be secure, the delivery system has to be right to get the card to the correct person."

Brandewie said card-based systems provide multi-factor authentication with layers of protection.