L-1 Identity Solutions has confirmed that a contract first announced in March 2008 for the US Passport Card has been expanded.

The prime contract is worth US$215 million over five years. According to L-1, the expansion of the original contract is due to the increased demand anticipated for the new credential, which aids frequent travel for US citizens living in border communities. The company has also secured US$24.8 million over five years for the new US Border Crossing Card (BCC) as part of an extension to the US Passport Card programme.

The US Passport Card is a convenient, wallet-sized document for land and sea travel between the US and Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda. It is not valid for travel by air. Full production and distribution of the new credential began in mid-July 2008, with more than 350,000 Americans pre-ordering it. The card has a vicinity-read RFID chip that enables Customs and Border Protection inspectors to access photographs and other biographical information stored in secure government databases before the traveller reaches the inspection point.  

L-1 says: “For privacy protection, no personal information is written on the chip itself. The chip has only a unique number pointing to a stored record contained in secure government databases.”

The Department of State expanded the US Passport Card contract to include the BCC specifically for Mexican visa applicants. It anticipates issuing up to 10 million cards to qualifying Mexican visa applicants over the next five years. The BCC is modelled on the US Passport Card and will incorporate an improved design, a vicinity-read RFID chip with read capacity consistent with other documents used by the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

According to L-1, as the new BCC will be produced from the same card stock as the new US Passport Card, it will incorporate the same overt, covert and forensic security features, making it one of the most secure credentials in the world.

The BCC is part of phase four of the US Passport Card contract and the document is due to be issued from the third quarter of 2008.