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France-based smart card vendor Gemalto NV on Monday said it had bought the smart card unit of Australia-based Keycorp Ltd., a deal that includes Keycorp's interest in the Multos operating system. In a statement, Gemalto said it will pay A$25.7 million (US$21.8 million or 14.9 million euros) for the unit. Keycorp previously announced the sale but did not reveal the buyer (CardLine Global, 29 Aug.). Some banks and government agencies, especially those in Asia, use the highly secure Multos technology for chip-based banking, identification cards and electronic passports. MasterCard Worldwide once owned the Multos technology. The deal will send about 40 Multos "experts" to Gemalto, the French company says. Gemalto expects the deal to result in additional annual revenues of at least 15 million euros (US$21.9 million), with most of the revenues coming from Asia. Banks and other organizations have issued about 100 million Multos cards, according to StepNexus, a holding company created to handle ownership of Multos and other smart card technology.
