Gemplus Launches GemInstant(TM) PayPass(TM) and Enhances U.S. Production Capability for Contactless Payment
Luxembourg and Horsham, Pennsylvania (ots/PRNewswire)
- Gemplus Receives Full Certification From MasterCard(R) International for its GemInstant PayPass(TM) Solution
Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP), the world's leading provider of smart card solutions, today launched its GemInstant(TM) PayPass(TM) solution for contactless payment. The company also confirmed that it received full certification from MasterCard(R) International for GemInstant(TM) PayPass(TM).
GemInstant PayPass leverages contactless technology to simplify payment for small value transactions in venues where speed is essential. It consists of a MasterCard payment card with a built-in chip and antenna that uses short range radio waves to allow users to simply tap their GemInstant PayPass smart cards on specially-equipped PayPass terminals to securely transmit account details.
Merchant and consumer interest in MasterCard PayPass in the U.S. continues to grow, with an increasing number of merchants and other commercial partners agreeing to accept the contactless payment program. They include McDonald's, Regal Entertainment Group movie theaters, CVS pharmacies, and 7-Eleven and Sheetz convenience stores, as well as several sporting arenas. Additionally, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., one of the largest credit-card issuer in the U.S., has publicly announced plans to issue cards powered by MasterCard PayPass during 2005.
GemInstant PayPass achieved all of the MasterCard PayPass approval requirements on 30 June, bringing to the banks a contactless solution compliant with the MasterCard PayPass specifications and testing requirements. The cards will be produced at Gemplus' recently enhanced card manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania, U.S. starting in July 2005.
"We see huge growth opportunities in the contactless market worldwide. Banking, retail, transportation, and government sectors are all considering various contactless technologies because of the improved speed and efficiency at terminals and reduced maintenance costs," said Philippe Combes, Gemplus' Executive Vice-President Operations and Financial Services.
Ernie Berger, President of Gemplus North America, added, "Being among the first smart card providers to achieve full certification for MasterCard PayPass is a serious endorsement of the effort we've put into developing contactless solutions over the last decade."
About MasterCard(R) PayPass(TM)
MasterCard PayPass is a new "contactless" payment program that provides consumers with a simple way to pay. Using MasterCard PayPass, consumers simply "tap" their payment card, or alternative PayPass form factor, on a specially equipped merchant terminal, eliminating the need to swipe a card through a reader or fumble for cash and coins. The new solution is ideal for quick payment environments where speed is essential, such as quick serve restaurants, gas stations, drug stores, supermarkets and movie theaters.
About Gemplus
Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP) is the world's leading player in the smart card industry in both revenue and total shipments (source: Gartner-Dataquest (2005), Frost & Sullivan, Datamonitor.). It has sold over 5 billion smart cards.
With security at its core, and 2400 patents and patent applications produced by its innovative R&D team, Gemplus delivers a wide range of portable, personalized solutions in areas including Identity, Mobile Telecommunications, Public Telephony, Banking, Retail, Transport, Healthcare, WLAN, Pay-TV, e-government, and access control.
Gemplus' revenue in 2004 was 865 million Euros.
www.gemplus.com
For more information:
Steve Lacourt
Gemplus
Tel: +(32)-2-711-4820
Email: steve.lacourt@gemplus.com
Rebecca Naysan
Edelman
Tel: +1-212-704-8245
Email: rebecca.naysan@edelman.com(c)2005 Gemplus. All rights reserved. Gemplus, the Gemplus logo, and GemInstant are trademarks and service marks of Gemplus S.A. and are registered in certain countries. All other trademarks and service marks, whether registered or not in specific countries, are the property of their respective owners.
Some of the statements contained in this release constitute forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activities, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Actual events or results may differ materially. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated by the forward-looking statements contained in this release include, but are not limited to: trends in wireless communication and mobile commerce markets; our ability to develop new technology, and the effects of competing technologies developed and expected intense competition generally in our main markets; profitability of our expansion strategy; challenges to or loss of our intellectual property rights; our ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships in our major businesses; our ability to develop and take advantage of new software and services; and the effect of future acquisitions and investments on our share price. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this release speak only as of this release. We are under no duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after this date to conform such statements to actual results or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated results.
Contact:
Steve Lacourt, Gemplus, Tel: +(32)-2-711-4820, Email:
steve.lacourt@gemplus.com or Rebecca Naysan, Edelman, Tel:
+1-212-704-8245, Email: rebecca.naysan@edelman.com