Gemplus Delivers Italy's First Mass Volume of EMV Cards to Setefi (Intesa Group)
Luxembourg (ots/PRNewswire)
- Gemplus strengthens its position in the financial sector in Southern Europe
Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP), the world's leading provider of smart card solutions, today announced that it is supplying more than one million smart payment cards to Setefi, part of Intesa Group which is one of the largest banking groups in Italy. With the EMV[1] migration in its pilot stages in the region, it is the first bank to deliver mass volumes of cards to the market.
By the end of June 2005, Gemplus delivered 500,000 cards to Setefi, Intesa Group's service centre, where the personalisation process is carried out. The cards are intended for credit and debit payment applications, as well as for Intesa Group's specific payment application, Moneta.
"As we continue to develop and build upon our service offering, it is imperative to partner with a smart card company with the expertise to supply EMV smart payment cards and consultation," commented Mr Spadoni, General Director of Setefi, Intesa Group. "Gemplus is therefore the ideal choice, and has been instrumental in providing support for the implementation. Above all, it has been able to supply a cost-effective and robust EMV operating system."
"Gemplus has again demonstrated that proven market experience is a key consideration for leading banking groups when considering partners for smart payment projects," added Philippe Combes, Executive Vice-President, Operations and Financial Services, Gemplus. "Thanks to our streamlined production processes and ability to purchase large volumes of chips, we are able to meet the demands of banks for a rapid, cost-effective migration solution."
In 2004, many European banks made the necessary preparations in readiness for the roll out of EMV in 2005. They continue their strategy to combat card fraud with the objective that greater security will boost usage and strengthen their relationship with their customers. The migration progress will be of key significance in Italy during the second half of 2005.
The cards will be produced at Gemplus' specialised European PVC manufacturing facility in Havant, UK.
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 Emma Williamson
Gemplus Financial Services Business Edelman
Unit
Tel: +32-(0)-2-711-48-20 Tel: +44-(0)-20-7344-1253
Fax: +32-(0)-2-725-14-60 Fax: +44-(0)-20-7344-1222
Email: Email:
steve.lacourt@gemplus.com emma.williamson@edelman.comLUXEMBOURG, July 7 /PRNewswire/ --
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[1] EMV is a smart card payment standard that was created in 1996 by Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV), guaranteeing worldwide interoperability and security for payment. Benefiting card issuers, acquirers and cardholders, EMV is essential in the reduction of fraud and also provides opportunities for financial institutions to differentiate new services for cardholders.
Contact:
Steve Lacourt, Gemplus Financial Services Business Unit, Tel:
+32-(0)-2-711-48-20 Fax: +32-(0)-2-725-14-60 Email:
steve.lacourt@gemplus.com Emma Williamson, Edelman, Tel:
+44-(0)-20-7344-1253 Fax: +44-(0)-20-7344-1222 Email:
emma.williamson@edelman.com