Continuing its full-court press on the U.S. card systems industry, French electronics and industrial giant Schlumberger has acquired Danyl Corp.
Schlumberger described Danyl as the nation's largest producer of unattended electronic transaction systems that use magnetic stripe and integrated circuit card technology for applications like stored value and universal cards.
Danyl, based in Moorestown, N.J., will function as a wholly owned subsidiary of Schlumberger and retain its present leadership, a spokesman said.
Last week's purchase of Danyl and December's acquisition of Malco Inc., the largest U.S. producer of plastic payment cards, are "significant, at least in that they make a statement that Schlumberger is positioning itself for high-tech, high-level card systems, which would include smart card technology," said Lawrence Linden, formerly Malco's chief executive and now a card industry consultant in Maryland.
Jim Davis, vice president and general manager for Schlumberger's smart cards and systems for North America, said the addition of Danyl "will complement our existing products and enable us to provide more broad-based solutions to customers."
The company sees a growing opportunity on campuses, with several colleges instituting universal cards for students, faculty, and staff. Most of these cards function through magnetic stripe technology, but a shift toward smart cards is widely anticipated.
"As they try to upgrade infrastructure for electronic transactions, they can now look to us and have a vendor that can fulfill most requirements, rather than dealing with several merchants," said Mr. Davis.
Peter J. Truscello, president of Danyl, said the company is now "optimally positioned" to assist customers as they incorporate the advantages of chip card-based transactions.
Schlumberger is hoping to outpace French rivals Gemplus and the Bull Group in the U.S. smart card manufacturing race. Government high-technology incentives made France the first country to make chip cards standard for banks, pay telephones, and other applications.
Since 1983, Schlumberger has delivered 270 million smart cards worldwide, including one million in the United States.
