Diversified Investors in Deal With Malaysian Smart Card Firm

Diversified Investors Corp. has entered into an exclusive joint venture agreement with Smartcard Technology to develop smart card applications in Singapore and Malaysia.

The joint venture, which will be 30% owned by New York-based Diversified and 70% owned by Malaysian investors, will have the exclusive right in those two countries to develop smart cards, charge cards, debit cards, and other electronic funds transfer applications of Diversified's proprietary electronic processing technology.

The signing of the agreement was witnessed by Malaysian Deputy Finance Minister Loke Yuen Yow last week.

Smartcard Technology, a company based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is bound under the terms of the agreement to deal exclusively with Diversified with respect to all of its technology and related requirements. The initial term of the agreement is two years.

According to Diversified chairman Philip S. Budin, initial marketing targets include financial services, transportation, pension and welfare funds, and the health-care industry.

Last December, Diversified announced a joint venture to develop EFT applications in Mexico. Through this agreement with a Mexican-led investment consortium, Diversified will create a new credit card processor in Mexico and Latin America. Diversified receives a 20% equity stake in the joint venture, called International Financial Processing Corp.

The venture will provide electronic switching and transaction processing for bank credit cards, private label credit cards, debit cards, and smart cards. The new company is negotiating to extend its processing to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia.

Diversified Investors, through its wholly owned subsidiary Transaction Network Plus Inc., has been a processor of debit and credit card transactions since 1990.

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