Government ID, Smart Cards, Identification and Authentication

Oberthur plans to shed smart card unit

Monday, August 1, 2011

Reuters reports, citing a Financial Times article, that Oberthur Technologies is finishing up its auction to sell off different units of its business to private equity bidders.

Although two bidders had already backed out of the deal, the FT says U.S. financial investors Advent International and One Equity Partners were still in the running for the smart card unit auction.


Oberthur is selling a 60% stake in its smart card business. The deal is valued at up to 600 million euros ($858 million).

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The South African Ministry of Home Affairs announced the expansion of its smart ID card pilot program, reports IT Web.

According to Home Affairs director-general Mkuseli Apleni, the smart ID card program is part of an effort by the national government to shed its racist past and create one identification card for all citizens. It will replace the current civic and immigration identity systems and capture demographic and biometric data of all South Africans and foreign nationals.

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Thursby Software Systems, Inc. has released the PKard Reader, a touch Web browser solution for the iOS that includes secure authentication to a personal smart card.

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The April meeting of the influential Government Smart Card Interagency Advisory Board (IAB) was recently held in Washington D.C. FIPS201.com was on hand to cover the event and has provided, as a service to the IAB and the smart card community, an audio recording of the presentations. Click on the link below to access a list of audio and accompanying PowerPoint slides (in pdf format).

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Romanian bank BRD, a unit of Société Générale, has selected Oberthur Technologies to supply multi-application payment cards. These cards have payment scheme applications, as well as the ability to host transport, access control, PKI or biometric apps.

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