Units of DataCard, Bull Prep for Smart Card Drives

DataCard Corp., the card personalization and terminal manufacturing company, has made three executive changes in its transaction systems business unit.

The unit, created last year, is devoted to the point of sale terminal market, with special focus on smart card applications.

John Mamalakis, who came from MasterCard International's automated point of sale program in July, is the corporate vice president and general manager for the business unit. Tom Kettell, also from MasterCard, is the new vice president of marketing, and Bernie Frey, formerly DataCard's national accounts sales manager, takes over as Eastern regional sales manager.

Minneapolis-based DataCard sold its card manufacturing capabilities to French smart card maker Gemplus last year. Its main business - card personalization - will not be affected by the developments. DataCard, while successful in selling point of sale equipment to the petroleum industry, with clients like Sunoco, has not enjoyed the same level of penetration in the financial and retail arenas.

Chief executive Glenn Highland said the moves are an attempt to gain market share from Verifone Inc., with the advent of smart cards. He called the emerging technology an opportunity to "reshuffle the deck from a competitive point of view. We're positioning ourselves to be the winner coming out of that change."

The company will release a new line of low-cost terminals with smart card and magnetic-stripe readers in late 1996.

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Micro Card Technologies, the North American subsidiary of smart card manufacturer CP8 Transac, also announced management changes meant to focus the company on the growing smart card industry in the United States and Canada.

Eric Planchard has been promoted to president and chief executive of the Vienna, Va.-based company, from his post as vice president of product management with CP8 Transac.

CP8 Transac, a unit of the Bull Group of France, owns over 700 patents on microprocessor-based smart card systems and is one of the leading developers of the technology, supplying cards and operating systems for several European stored value projects.

Mr. Planchard previously spent four years working at Zenith Data Systems, the Chicago-based personal computer division of Bull Group.

Also joining the company is Christian Goire as vice president of technology. Mr. Goire spent the last few years with CP8 Transac, where he was responsible for smart card terminal developments.

Arnaud d'Avezac, Micro Card's former chief executive, will continue as an adviser through June 1996.

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