LOS ANGELES Oberthur Card Systems is supplying initial chip-enabled debit/credit cards for 13 of the first 15 Italian banks to migrate to smart card technology.
The company holds a 60% market share in Italy, one of the most advanced European countries in terms of migration to chip cards. By 2005, 35 million Italians are expected to have smart cards.
The Oberthur cards, which are manufactured and personalized in the companys Italian facilities, have passed the certification tests of the Italian banking association ABI, Visa International, which awarded the cards level 3 security (the associations highest level), MasterCard International, and Europay.
The first transaction in Italy using a smart card that complies with Europay/MasterCard/Visa (or EMV) specifications took place this week with an Oberthur card.
Europay, MasterCard, and Visa have set a 2005 for their European issuers to develop smart card infrastructures.
