Gemplus has signed contracts to deliver 40 million EMV cards within the next two years to the UK market, the firm reports.
Gemplus (www.gemplus.com) reports it will provide one of the biggest debit card issuers in the UK, Halifax Bank of Scotland – among other UK banks – with smart cards to replace the magnetic stripe system on the banks’ debit cards. The UK, representing the biggest market for EMV, will have an estimated 120 million payment cards upgraded to the new Chip and PIN solution by 2005.
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What they say
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Gilles Michel, Executive Vice-President of Gemplus’ Financial & Security Services Business Unit, says: ‘The UK market is incredibly important not just because it is the largest EMV market, but also in terms of its maturity. Our success in the UK and our incomparable worldwide presence puts us in a strong position to help our other customers in other parts of the world to embark on EMV.’ In two other contract wins: it will be supplying 400,000 cards to Banco do Brasil, Brazil’s first bank to roll out EMV. Gemplus and its partner Toppan Printing Co. will also deliver at least 5 million multi-application EMV cards to JCB, the big international credit card brand and Japan’s largest card issuer.
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Smart card-based
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Gemplus reports it has introduced a smart card-based system for corporate & B2B security. In 2002, the CSI and the FBI reported that 90pc of large corporations and government agencies detected computer security breaches within the previous year. Gemplus has introduced SafesITe, a smart card-based offering for corporate and B2B security, enabling enterprises to offer more secure and convenient identification services to their employees, the firm says. The SafesITe system provides the cards, readers, software and services necessary for deployment of multi-purpose employee cards capable of consolidating physical and IT security features, the firm says.
