Smart Card Talk

December 2006 • Volume 11 Number 12

Member News

Joint Venture Foundation of Giesecke & Devrient and Nokia Completed
The new company called Venyon supplies Secure Chip Management services for Near Field Communication ecosystems

Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) announced today the completion of a global joint venture. The name of the company is Venyon, and it is 57 percent owned by G&D and 43 percent owned by Nokia. Venyon prepares the way for mobile operators, transport operators, retailers, banks, credit card companies, and providers of digital services and media worldwide to offer their services and applications to consumers’ Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled mobile devices. With the company’s Secure Chip Management services, consumer applications, such as credit cards or transport tickets can be securely and easily downloaded via a mobile operator’s network to those devices. [ read the full release ]

Garanti Bank Selects Gemalto for Europe's First Commercial Deployment of Contactless Banking Cards
Gemalto adds MasterCard® PayPass™ functionality to Garanti Bank’s Bonus Card, Europe’s largest multi-branded credit card program
Garanti Bank currently has over 5 million BonusCards in circulation in Turkey

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), a world leader in digital security, today announces it is providing Garanti Bank, a leading credit card issuer in Turkey, with Europe’s first smart banking cards featuring EMV technology, loyalty schemes and the contactless payment capability. Gemalto has been a major supplier to Garanti Bank since 2000 and has already provided the bank with several million of its multi-application smart cards, which incorporate EMV-compliant credit functions and a loyalty program. Leveraging the success of this first deployment, Gemalto is now upgrading Garanti’s BonusCard with the MasterCard® PayPass™ functionality to allow consumers to benefit from the speed and convenience of contactless at movie theatres, fast food restaurants and supermarkets. [ read the full release ]

Bank of America Selects Oberthur Card Systems to Supply Contactless Fobs for U.S. Trial
Trial Program Will Issue Oberthur VersaFOBs with MasterCard PayPass–A New Fob Concept

Bank of America has chosen Oberthur Card Systems to provide Contactless payment Fobs as part of a trial to test radio frequency contactless payment companion devices. As contactless cards continue to grow in issuance, Bank of America is testing consumer interest in companion devices for contactless payment, and plans to issue Oberthur Card Systems VersaFOBs with MasterCard PayPass–a first in the U.S. marketplace. [ read the full release ]

Raak Technologies, Inc. and MARX Data Security GmbH Announce MARX as a Licensee of RaakSign, Raak's Cryptographic Middleware
MARX Affiliate, MARX CryptoTech LP Based in Atlanta, Georgia, also Licenses RaakSign

Raak Technologies and MARX Data Security today announced that MARX Data Security has become a licensee of RaakSign, Raak’s cryptographic middleware. MARX’s affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia, MARX CryptoTech has also signed as a licensee. [ read the full release ]

EFG Eurobank Selects Hypercom Payment & Networking Devices to Support Regional Network; Names Hypercom Provider of Choice

Hypercom Corporation (NYSE: HYC) today announced that Athens-based EFG Eurobank has selected Hypercom as one of its short listed vendors for card payment and networking devices. The banking group has purchased more than 5,000 Optimum T2100 dial and IP-enabled card payment terminals plus multiple networking devices over the last nine months as part of a major expansion of its regional payment network throughout Central and Eastern Europe. [ read the full release ]

Brazil Sold on Digital Signature Cards
Giesecke & Devrient gives Brazilian notaries greater efficiency and security

In January 2007, Brazil’s National Notaries Association (ANOREG), which has around 20,000 members throughout the country, will begin using digital signature cards supplied by Giesecke & Devrient (G&D). The cards enable data to be transmitted securely between notaries and their clients. That, in turn, makes processes, such as electronic certification of documents by a notary public, more efficient. G&D has been supplying the government agencies and private institutions with cards for the country’s public key infrastructure (PKI) since 2004. Issuance of the cards to ANOREG is set to begin in January. The contract gives G&D, with its card solutions for government authorities, a good position on the Brazilian market. [ read the full release ]

Citigroup, MasterCard, Cingular and Nokia Team to Pilot Next Generation Mobile Phone with "Tap & Go™" Payment in New York City
Innovative Payment Trial to Use Near Field Communications Technology

Citigroup, MasterCard Worldwide, Cingular Wireless and Nokia today announced a consumer technology trial of Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled mobile phones with MasterCard PayPass™ contactless payment capability in New York City. The goal of this trial is to evaluate the speed and convenience that “tap and go” payments made through mobile phones can provide to Citi credit cards and Cingular customers in the New York City area. The trial is expected to run three to six months. [ read the full release ]

Germany Qualifies Gemalto for World's Largest Microprocessor Card-Based Healthcare Initiative
In Germany, 80 million patient cards will be renewed over the next 5 years

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), a world leader in digital security, today announces it is taking part in Germany’s first healthcare pilot program based on highly secure microprocessor cards. The Gemalto product is fully compliant with the latest specifications from Gematik, the organization in charge of defining and approving the healthcare infrastructure, which enables the company to deliver cards to the pilot regions. Gemalto received first orders to supply and personalize patient cards for the regions of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine Westphalia and Saxony. The first trial phase commenced in December 2006, involving 70,000 units in 7 regions. A larger scale experimentation of 300,000 cards is due to start in 2007, which will be followed by mass deployment. This new advanced digital healthcare solution aims at reducing administrative costs and ensuring better delivery of services and benefits to citizens. [ read the full release ]

CoreStreet's PIVMAN System Deployed with SuperCom's Mobile Credentialing System for the City of Los Angeles
System Interoperable with Current and Future FIPS 201 Credentials

CoreStreet, the leader in infrastructure and applications for smart credential and convergence programs, announced that SuperCom, Inc. (OTCBB:SPCBF; Euronext::SUP) has selected the PIVMAN™ System as part of the Urban Area Security Initiative contract for the City of Los Angeles. [ read the full release ]

Gemalto to Deliver Turnkey Solution for Driver's License Program in Norway
ID program to potentially reach 1.5 million cards over next six years

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), a world leader in digital security, today announces that it will provide its highly secure polycarbonate cards, based on Setec¹ technology, for driver’s licenses in Norway. The agreement with the Norwegian authorities calls for the supply and personalization of the cards and direct mailing to the end-user. The four-year contract will come into force on January 1, 2007 and includes an option for two additional years. Norway currently issues approximately 250,000 driver’s licenses per year. [ read the full release ]

Smart Card Alliance Urges U.S. Government to Reconsider Proposed Passport Card With Long Range RFID Technology

The U.S. government should reconsider using vicinity read RFID technology for implementing the passport card program, the Smart Card Alliance states in its response to the Department of State’s October 17 Federal Register notice announcing the technology choice for the program. The passport card has been proposed as an identification card for U.S. citizens who do not have passports to verify their identity at land and sea border crossings. [ read the full release ]

City of Los Angeles to Deploy SuperCom's IRMS Mobile Credentialing and Handheld Verification System
America’s 2nd Largest City Turns to SuperCom to Address its Mobile Credentialing and Incident Management Requirements

SuperCom, Ltd. (OTCBB: SPCBF.OB; Euronext: SUP), SuperCom, Inc., the Virginia-based subsidiary of SuperCom, Ltd. (OTCBB:SPCBF.OB; Euronext::SUP), a provider of incident management, active RF and e-ID solutions, today announced that it has been awarded an Urban Area Security Initiative contract by the City of Los Angeles to deploy mobile credentialing and verification units for the Los Angeles City Department of General Services-Office of Public Safety, the Los Angeles City Office of Personnel, and the Los Angeles Police Department (Mobile Command Post Unit). The first phase of the deployment will be in the fourth quarter of 2006. [ read the full release ]

Microsoft Windows Vista Enables Strong Enterprise Security with Gemalto Secure Personal Devices

To strengthen digital security and help enterprises against continuing threats to corporate data, Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), a world leader in digital security, and Microsoft today announced that Windows Vista™ will support Gemalto .NET devices right out of the box. Enterprises can now easily and cost effectively replace weak user name and password-based security with Gemalto smart cards and tokens, as well as deploy additional digital security applications such as document signature, physical access control and employee e-purse services. These steps protect digital identities and data from ever-evolving threats. [ read the full release ]

Discover Network Certifies OTI Card Reader for Contactless Payment System
OTI’s Saturn 5000 to Support Discover Network’s Fast, Secure, and Simple Contactless Payment System Worldwide

Discover Network, a business unit of Discover Financial Services and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), today announced that it has certified the Saturn 5000 contactless reader developed by On Track Innovations (OTI) (NASDAQ: OTIV), a global leader in contactless microprocessor-based smart card solutions, for use with Discover Network’s contactless payment application. [ read the full release ]

Highest Ranking Agency within U.S. Executive Branch Selects Gemalto to Provide Secure Access Solution

Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO), a world leader in digital security, today announces that the highest ranking agency within the U.S. Executive Branch of Government has chosen Gemalto to provide card management services, including two-factor authentication technology, in compliance with the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12). [ read the full release ]

MasterCard Worldwide Announces Enhanced Support to Roll-Out Contactless Payments
Cost of MasterCard® PayPass™ M/Chip 4 Card Reduced by Approximately a Fifth of the Price to USD$2.99

MasterCard Worldwide and Keycorp Limited (ASX: KYC) today announced the availability of a US$2.99 MasterCard PayPass M/Chip 4 Combi Card, a dual-interface smart card for card issuers in Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA). The MasterCard smart card program is part of the overall OneSmart™ MasterCard® strategy to provide issuers with greater technology choices, support and critical flexibility they need to launch a successful smart card program. With the support of these leading vendors, MasterCard will further accelerate the migration of payment cards to dual- interface (contact and contactless) multi-application smart cards in APMEA. [ read the full release ]