MASTERCARD
AND DATACARD SIGN STRATEGIC ALLIANCE FOR SMART CARD SOLUTIONS
Cooperative Efforts Will
Help Simplify Smart Card Issuance and Management; Minimize Chip Migration Costs
for Member Financial Institutions
Minneapolis, MN and
Purchase, NY — June 18, 2002 — MasterCard
International and Datacard Group today announced that they have formed a
strategic alliance to drive worldwide acceptance of smart cards and accelerate
the implementation of open technical standards. Through this agreement, the two
global smart card leaders will cooperate on a variety of key initiatives to
support the deployment and management of smart card programs by MasterCard’s
member financial institutions.
“We believe that smart cards offer our
members an enhanced ability to launch highly customized, differentiated programs
that set them apart from their competitors,” said Art Kranzley, Chief
e-Business Officer for MasterCard International.
“Through this alliance, MasterCard is expanding its menu of
custom-tailored solutions to ensure that smart card issuance is simple,
cost-effective and profitable for our members.”
The solution set includes Datacard’s Affina™
Platform Management Architecture, a life cycle management solution that allows
card issuers to manage smart cards after they are in the cardholder’s hands.
The concept of post-issuance card management is one of the great advantages of
smart cards over magnetic stripe cards because it lets cardholders add new
applications and benefit from new features without the need for financial
institutions to re-issue the card. MasterCard’s
members and service bureaus can acquire Affina software and create their own
life cycle management system or they can purchase life cycle management as a
service from Datacard. Both
MULTOS and JavaCard issuance are supported in addition to proprietary platforms.
“Smart card issuance and
management present entirely new and potentially complex challenges for card
issuers,” said Jerry Johnson, Datacard’s president and CEO.
“This alliance will simplify the management
process for MasterCard’s members, whether they choose to run the management
system themselves or outsource the process to Datacard.”
MasterCard
International has long been a global leader in the development and deployment of
smart cards. Currently, more than
100 million MasterCard®-, Maestro®-, Mondex®-, and Clip™-branded smart
cards have been issued around the world. Over
the long term, MasterCard continues to believe that chips will replace magnetic
stripes as the technology that powers MasterCard credit and debit cards.
MasterCard is the only global payments leader that supports all smart
card operating platforms, allowing members to focus on business decisions rather
than technology issues.
The Datacard offering
is part of MasterCard’s suite of chip applications and solutions available to
members under theOneSMART™
MasterCard. OneSMART MasterCard
represents a comprehensive, four-point approach for delivering the promise of
smart cards to its members. Using a new supporting tagline, “OneSMART Card. More
Smart Choices™," MasterCard will
demonstrate to the marketplace how and why its unique approach makes MasterCard
the best partner for smart cards.
About Datacard Group
Leading smart card issuers rely on Datacard for the systems and
consultative services they need to achieve their business objectives. The
company’s smart card portfolio features a wide range of solutions, including
open and highly secure chip operating systems, complete smart card
personalization architectures and systems for life cycle management of
multi-application smart cards. This portfolio of proven Datacard solutions and
services bring simplicity and cost savings to card issuers transitioning from
magnetic stripe to smart card technology. The company also offers the
industry’s only fully integrated infrastructure, consisting of hardware,
software and systems for the issuance and management of multi-application smart
cards. The Datacard Consult p7 group, based in the United Kingdom, is the
world’s foremost authority on smart card security and a trusted advisor for
card issuers looking to prevent fraud, forgery and theft. Datacard smart card
experts also serve on the executive boards of GlobalPlatform and the Smart Card
Alliance.
In addition to its world-leading portfolio of smart card solutions, Datacard
provides financial institutions, corporations, consumer marketers, governments,
schools, healthcare providers, service bureaus and other enterprises with the
software, systems and professional services they need to build successful card
programs. The company’s offerings include the world’s best-selling and
broadest family of card issuance systems, a complete line of digital identity
systems and a full menu of solutions services, which includes planning,
implementation, training and ongoing support for large-scale card programs.
DataCard Corporation, doing business as Datacard Group, is privately held and
based in Minnetonka, Minn. Datacard Group serves customers in more than 120
countries. Datacard can be reached
through its World Wide Web site at http://www.datacard.com
About
MasterCard International
MasterCard International is a leader in global e-business.
The association is focused on providing its member financial institutions
with customized, meaningful global e-business solutions that connect them to
their accountholders. Through its
investment in industry innovation, participation in standards development and
business alliances, MasterCard is staying in the forefront of technology
integration to enable anytime, anywhere payments across multiple channels and
various devices. MasterCard's global e-business solutions include Internet
security, smart cards, mobile commerce/wireless, business to business electronic
commerce, and numerous emerging technologies.
MasterCard International has a comprehensive portfolio of well-known, widely
accepted payment brands including MasterCard, Cirrus and Maestro. More than 1.7
billion MasterCard, Cirrus and
Maestro logos are present on credit, charge and debit cards in circulation
today. An association comprised of more than 15,000 member financial
institutions, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses, both large and small,
in 210 countries and territories. MasterCard
is a leader in quality and innovation, offering a wide range of payment
solutions in the virtual and traditional worlds. MasterCard’s award-winning Priceless
advertising campaign is now seen in 90 countries and in 45 languages, giving the
MasterCard brand a truly global reach and scope. With more than 24 million
acceptance locations, no card is accepted in more places and by more merchants
than the MasterCard Card. For
the year ended December 31, 2001 gross dollar volume exceeded US$986 billion.
MasterCard can be reached through its World Wide Web site at http://www.mastercard.com.