Buy one card, then choose whether to activate its on-board Visa or MC payment application
24 March, 2005
category: Financial
G&D is offering a single chip card with both Visa and MasterCard payment applications on board. The bank issuer can buy just one card type and then select which payment application to activate on the card for the specific customer.
Visa or MasterCard? Two applications on one platform
Cooperation between Giesecke & Devrient and Visa International increases flexibility for card issuers
Munich, March 23, 2005 – More than 5,000 out of Visa’s 21,000 member banks issue credit cards for both customers of Visa and customers of MasterCard. Until now, the banks have had to provide a separate operating system for each brand of card, burdening them with added technical and organizational workloads. To help make card handling easier for the financial institutions, technology group Giesecke & Devrient, in cooperation with Visa International, is offering a solution that combines the payment applications of Visa and MasterCard on a single card.
Sm@rtCafé(r) Expert allows two payment applications to be made available on one platform. First, applications from Visa as well as MasterCard are loaded onto the chip module. Later, a choice is made on which of the two applications to activate. This subsequent determination is made possible thanks to open standards. However, it is not possible to have both payment applications activated at the same time. Once a particular application has been enabled, the other is automatically blocked.
The Sm@rtCafé(r) Expert operating system, based on Java technology, therefore provides banks with a flexible platform for offering the specific payment applications of both credit card organizations. “We want to ensure that Visa member banks have maximum choice and flexibility when it comes to implementing EMV. The Sm@rtCafé Expert(r) meets the latest Global Platform standards and Visa specifications and offers the ideal platform for all of our requirements,” says Jim Lee SVP of Product, Technology, and Standards at Visa International, explaining why G&D was selected as its partner.
The cooperation, initiated by Visa International, offers banks numerous advantages. “Sm@rtCafé(r) Expert allows greater flexibility with respect to procurement and personalization of the cards,” explains Michael Kuemmerle, head of Giesecke & Devrient’s Payment Division. “Instead of maintaining a supply of cards from both credit card companies, they can simply activate the appropriate application on the uniform card at the time of issue. That simplifies demand planning, thereby helping the banks to cut costs.”
About Giesecke & Devrient:
Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is a technology leader in the field of smart cards, providing smart card-based solutions for the areas of telecommunications, electronic payment, health care, ID, transportation, and IT security (PKI). G&D is also a leading producer of banknotes and security documents, and dominant in the field of currency automation.
Based in Munich, Germany, the G&D Group operates subsidiaries and joint ventures around the world. In fiscal 2003, the group employed some 6,800 people and generated revenue of €1.05 billion. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.gi-de.com.