PAOLI, Pa. - Orga Card Systems Inc., a German smart card company, said it has formed a U.S. unit, Orga USA, with Holger Mackenthum as president.
Mr. Mackenthum has been on the international smart card scene 10 years and previously worked for ADE Applied Digital Electronics, the Pennsylvania-based company that Orga acquired last year.
Orga USA's eight employees - the company has 350 worldwide - include applications consultant Murdo Munro, who moved from the United Kingdom office; Andy Arrivello, formerly of ADE, as sales director; and Fiona Thompson as head of sales support and administration.
Orga also said it is working as a "strategic partner" in MasterCard's smart card projects and was signed to supply chip-enhanced prepaid phone cards for 16,000 telephones being deployed by U S West.
Northern Telecom is supplying the Millennium pay phones for the first such chip card system in the United States. Mr. Mackenthum said the project will be a "stepping-stone for future technology advancements in public telephone systems."