- Email: [email protected]
Gemplus results exceed expectations
news Continued from back page... employees to digitally sign emails when transferring funds, for example. CPW chose to implement ActivCard’s Secure Remote Access Solution. This will allow employees and partners of the company to prove they are who they say they are when accessing network systems and services through a secure socket layer (SSL) VPN. The sorts of applications that might be accessed remotely include email, online and retail sales and inventory databases and other company data. Marc Hudavert, vice president for European Operations at ActivCard told CTT: “To date we have rolled out the technology to 1000 users, but this will increase to around 6000 by the end of the year.” Using the system is fairly straightforward. The employee must first access a special web page in order to begin the authentication process. The user then types their PIN into the pin-pad located on their key fob, which in turn displays a one-time password. The user then enters this onto the computer in order to be authenticated via ActivCard’s AAA Server. Contact: Julie White at ActivCard, Tel: +1 510 396 8940, email: [email protected]
financials
Gemplus results exceed expectations French smart card manufacturer Gemplus has released better than expected first quarter results for 2004. As well as an impressive 28% climb in revenue to Euro 197.3 million (before currency adjustments) the company posted its first net profit for a number of years. The impressive performance was fuelled by strong sales of SIM cards for mobile phones and gains in its banking card and ID card units. Lower costs from an earlier restructuring programme also contributed to the results helping the company achieve a small, yet significant, net income of Euro 300,000. The most significant improvement in performance came from the company’s telecoms unit. Record SIM shipments, which hit 59.7 million units, generated a 70.8% increase in revenue (currency adjusted) to Euro 127 million compared with the first quarter of 2003. Together with other revenues, such as its prepaid phone cards, the company made Euro 146.6 million from the telecoms unit. Gemplus’ financial services unit saw sales climb by 11.3% to Euro 40.4 million before currency adjustment. Revenue in the unit’s banking & retail segment was driven by the migration from magnetic stripe to EMV cards.
Card Technology Today May 2004
In particular, payment microprocessor card shipments rose 125% year-on-year and 11% quarter-on-quarter, the company noted. EMV sales continued to gather pace with shipments increasing 38% quarter-on-quarter. Sales were mainly driven by the UK market, but were also supported by Continental Europe, South-East Asia and Latin America. Several large banks started to rollout Gemplus EMV cards during this quarter, in the UK, France, Turkey, Malaysia, and other countries. Year-on-year growth in payment microprocessor cards was offset by lower sales in nonEMV cards. The company’s ID and Security unit, which the vendor separated from the financial services unit last year, saw sales climbed to Euro 10.3 million, a rise of by 25.3% on the same quarter in 2003. This revenue came primarily from sales of cards and services to the Gulf states of Oman and the United Arab Emirates, which are rolling out chip-based national ID cards. Contact: Marielle Bricman at Gemplus, Tel: +33 4 42 36 55 96, email: [email protected]
national id
Kyrgyzstan to implement smart ID The Republic of Kyrgyzstan has said it will implement a smart card-based e-government and national ID scheme enhanced with biometric authentication. The contract to supply the cards and the BVS2 biometric platform has been won by e-Smart Technologies, through its wholly owned subsidiary and hub for Asian business activity, e-Smart Korea. Kyrgyzstan is a small central Asian country, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. It has a population of 4,900,000, of which about two-thirds are aged 14 or more. Phase one of the project will see the cards implemented in the country’s major cities and the issuance of approximately 1,500,000 Super Smart Cards. This roll out is slated to commence within six months, following a final country study which is already underway by e-Smart. Kyrgyzstan’s president, Askar Akayev, commented: “As part of our modernization programme, we are constantly seeking ways to improve the lives of our people. In this vein, we have been seeking to introduce modern egovernment and e-payment systems to our people, while avoiding the pitfalls of mis-identity and identity theft that currently plague such systems.” The agreement is the result of joint efforts between e-Smart Korea and Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communication. The
in brief • The International Biometric Group, a US biometric consultancy, has been awarded US$1.7 Million to evaluate the effectiveness of advanced identification technologies, including biometrics and smart cards, on behalf of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). The 12month pilot is being implemented in six counties, encompassing approximately 180,000 Medicaid recipients and 900 Medicaid providers. The Medicaid Integrity Pilot uses biometrics and smart cards to verify the identity of Medicaid recipients at health care provider locations. IBG is evaluating systems from Atos Origin, EDS, eMedicalFiles and MAXIMUS. • Retail solutions provider Alphameric has selected Trintech’s Smart 5000 PINPad as the technology solution for its EPOS implementations across a number of retailers in the UK and Ireland, including Clinkards, Giles Sports and Slater Menswear. According to Trintech the terminals’ OpenPay architecture comprises a fast ARM processor and open source operating system (Linux). This enables it to have high chip transaction processing speeds making it ideal for valueadd applications such as loyalty. The terminal is also equipped with just one card slot that is able to process both magnetic stripe and smart cards, thereby solving the problem of consumer and cashier confusion at the pointof-sale. • Irdeto Access, a company in the content security industry, has partnered with SCM Microsystems and Royal Philips Electronics to introduce the Irdeto Chip On Board (ICOB) module. The removable module is produced by SCM and contains a built-in smart card chip developed by Philips. The smart card is auto-expiring, meaning the smart card is only valid for a certain amount of time, after which a subscriber’s access to programmes stops automatically. This sort of functionality allows content providers to provide “teaser” promotional subscriptions and marketing offers. Once the promotional subscription deal has expired, consumers can upgrade to a normal subscription through the addition of a new smart card. The solution operates in any DVB-compliant set top box that features a CI-CAM slot, enabling pay TV operators or even free-to-air operators to take advantage of their large existing installed base of STBs to offer premium content.
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financials
Gemplus results exceed expectations French smart card manufacturer Gemplus has released better than expected first quarter results for 2004. As well as an impressive 28% climb in revenue to Euro 197.3 million (before currency adjustments) the company posted its first net profit for a number of years. The impressive performance was fuelled by strong sales of SIM cards for mobile phones and gains in its banking card and ID card units. Lower costs from an earlier restructuring programme also contributed to the results helping the company achieve a small, yet significant, net income of Euro 300,000. The most significant improvement in performance came from the company’s telecoms unit. Record SIM shipments, which hit 59.7 million units, generated a 70.8% increase in revenue (currency adjusted) to Euro 127 million compared with the first quarter of 2003. Together with other revenues, such as its prepaid phone cards, the company made Euro 146.6 million from the telecoms unit. Gemplus’ financial services unit saw sales climb by 11.3% to Euro 40.4 million before currency adjustment. Revenue in the unit’s banking & retail segment was driven by the migration from magnetic stripe to EMV cards.
Card Technology Today May 2004
In particular, payment microprocessor card shipments rose 125% year-on-year and 11% quarter-on-quarter, the company noted. EMV sales continued to gather pace with shipments increasing 38% quarter-on-quarter. Sales were mainly driven by the UK market, but were also supported by Continental Europe, South-East Asia and Latin America. Several large banks started to rollout Gemplus EMV cards during this quarter, in the UK, France, Turkey, Malaysia, and other countries. Year-on-year growth in payment microprocessor cards was offset by lower sales in nonEMV cards. The company’s ID and Security unit, which the vendor separated from the financial services unit last year, saw sales climbed to Euro 10.3 million, a rise of by 25.3% on the same quarter in 2003. This revenue came primarily from sales of cards and services to the Gulf states of Oman and the United Arab Emirates, which are rolling out chip-based national ID cards. Contact: Marielle Bricman at Gemplus, Tel: +33 4 42 36 55 96, email: [email protected]
national id
Kyrgyzstan to implement smart ID The Republic of Kyrgyzstan has said it will implement a smart card-based e-government and national ID scheme enhanced with biometric authentication. The contract to supply the cards and the BVS2 biometric platform has been won by e-Smart Technologies, through its wholly owned subsidiary and hub for Asian business activity, e-Smart Korea. Kyrgyzstan is a small central Asian country, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. It has a population of 4,900,000, of which about two-thirds are aged 14 or more. Phase one of the project will see the cards implemented in the country’s major cities and the issuance of approximately 1,500,000 Super Smart Cards. This roll out is slated to commence within six months, following a final country study which is already underway by e-Smart. Kyrgyzstan’s president, Askar Akayev, commented: “As part of our modernization programme, we are constantly seeking ways to improve the lives of our people. In this vein, we have been seeking to introduce modern egovernment and e-payment systems to our people, while avoiding the pitfalls of mis-identity and identity theft that currently plague such systems.” The agreement is the result of joint efforts between e-Smart Korea and Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communication. The
in brief • The International Biometric Group, a US biometric consultancy, has been awarded US$1.7 Million to evaluate the effectiveness of advanced identification technologies, including biometrics and smart cards, on behalf of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). The 12month pilot is being implemented in six counties, encompassing approximately 180,000 Medicaid recipients and 900 Medicaid providers. The Medicaid Integrity Pilot uses biometrics and smart cards to verify the identity of Medicaid recipients at health care provider locations. IBG is evaluating systems from Atos Origin, EDS, eMedicalFiles and MAXIMUS. • Retail solutions provider Alphameric has selected Trintech’s Smart 5000 PINPad as the technology solution for its EPOS implementations across a number of retailers in the UK and Ireland, including Clinkards, Giles Sports and Slater Menswear. According to Trintech the terminals’ OpenPay architecture comprises a fast ARM processor and open source operating system (Linux). This enables it to have high chip transaction processing speeds making it ideal for valueadd applications such as loyalty. The terminal is also equipped with just one card slot that is able to process both magnetic stripe and smart cards, thereby solving the problem of consumer and cashier confusion at the pointof-sale. • Irdeto Access, a company in the content security industry, has partnered with SCM Microsystems and Royal Philips Electronics to introduce the Irdeto Chip On Board (ICOB) module. The removable module is produced by SCM and contains a built-in smart card chip developed by Philips. The smart card is auto-expiring, meaning the smart card is only valid for a certain amount of time, after which a subscriber’s access to programmes stops automatically. This sort of functionality allows content providers to provide “teaser” promotional subscriptions and marketing offers. Once the promotional subscription deal has expired, consumers can upgrade to a normal subscription through the addition of a new smart card. The solution operates in any DVB-compliant set top box that features a CI-CAM slot, enabling pay TV operators or even free-to-air operators to take advantage of their large existing installed base of STBs to offer premium content.
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