In Brief: First USA Takes Stake in Smart Card Firm

First USA Bank, the credit card issuer affiliated with Bank One Corp., said it has taken an equity stake in the smart card systems developer Cybermark LLC.

The companies did not disclose the terms. First USA joins an ownership group consisting of the student loan agency Sallie Mae, Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, Ohio, and Huntington Bancshares, also of Columbus.

First USA and Cybermark teamed up early this year to issue one of the first U.S. credit cards enhanced with a computer chip. The project was done on behalf of Florida State University, one of several educational institutions using technology from Cybermark. The firm said its cards are held by 500,000 people in North America.

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