CARTES tradeshow, Villepinte, France- Gemalto, a world leader in digital security, has launched an innovative banking microprocessor card to perform multiple types of Visa payments: contact EMV (Europay MasterCard Visa), EMV-based contactless and magnetic stripe data contactless. The Gemalto card is the first contactless product that meets Visa’s global contactless specification for interoperability and will be available in mass volumes to major financial institutions starting January 2007.

With the new Gemalto card, users will benefit from the speed and convenience of contactless transactions, along with enhanced EMV-based security features available through the Visa global contactless specification. For low-value purchases, where cash is traditionally used, consumers will simply hold their card up to the contactless reader of a point-of-sale terminal. Purchases above a specified amount, determined by issuers, will require a standard contact-based transaction with cardholder verification, such as Personal Identification Number (PIN) input.

This new card from Gemalto can also host additional applications, such as transportation, access control and loyalty, allowing banks to advance a wide range of valuable services to their customers. For example, Visa issuers will be able to deliver co-branded applications in cooperation with transit operators and dynamically add new services such as loyalty schemes.

“Gemalto is proud to be the first company to provide financial institutions with a contactless product that fulfills Visa’s latest requirements,” commented Philippe Cambriel, president banking and security at Gemalto. “This product will assist banks in addressing the cash market, by far the largest in terms of number of transactions. Furthermore the combination of EMV-based contactless and multi-application will enhance consumers’ purchasing experiences .”

Visa first announced the global contactless specification at Cartes in 2005. The specification was developed to enable seamless interoperability across markets while providing choice and flexibility for issuers to customize contactless programs for their markets.

“The Gemalto product is the first card to be developed to the new global specification and represents important progress in bringing enhanced contactless programs to market,” said Stephanie Ericksen, vice president of Product and Technology Integration, Visa International. “In addition to the test tools and facilities, documentation and other resources now available, the Gemalto card enables issuers to develop new globally interoperable contactless payment programs with enhanced security and improved performance for faster, safer transaction processing.”