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American Express Co. has joined GlobalPlatform, the international smart card specifications group said Tuesday. American Express joined as a full member of the group, which encourages interoperable smart card systems and offers free downloads of its card specifications from its Web site. Banks, transit agencies, governments and mobile operators have issued more than 305 million GlobalPlatform-based smart cards. The group, in a statement, says American Express initially will focus on the group's "current standardization efforts to support the convergence of the payment and mobile technical landscapes." Kevin Gillick, GlobalPlatform's executive director, tells CardLine Global that "American Express' membership will enable GlobalPlatform to further its reach and visibility across the global smart card market to ensure worldwide interoperability of smart card solutions." Amex offered no immediate comment Tuesday. MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc. also are full members of the group. Japan-based credit card issuer JCB Co. Ltd. is an observing member of the group. In February, Amex became the fourth owner-member of EMVCo LLC, the international organization that maintains the global EMV antifraud standard found on hundreds of millions of chip payment cards around the world. JCB, MasterCard and Visa are the other EMVCo. owners.
