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Parex Bank chooses Gemplus for EMV migration


Gemplus to assist Latvia’s largest bank with EMV migration, card issuance and personalization.

Luxembourg - February 6, 2003 -Gemplus (Euronext: Sicovam 5768 and NASDAQ: GEMP), the world's leading provider of smart card solutions, announces its appointment by Latvian Parex Bank to deliver 10.000 GemVision chip-based bank cards for the bank's EMV pilot project starting in March 2003. The rollout will eventually see 100,000 existing cards replaced by smart EMV cards. Gemplus will handle card issuance and card personalization in-house for Parex Bank

Reducing fraud and cutting transaction costs

Parex bank will work with Gemplus to phase out traditional, easy-to-copy magnetic stripe cards. New EMV smart cards store data securely in the on-board chip, reducing the risk of fraud, reducing the need for on-line card verification and cutting transaction costs.

Amplified service offer with multi-application cards

Smart cards can run several secure applications on a single chip, meaning that Parex Bank will be able to add applications to its payment cards. Customers will be able to use one card for debit/credit, loyalty schemes, e-purse, home banking, and other secure applications.

\"At Parex Bank, we are committed to delivering a stable, quality service to our customers and we require a technology partner that understands these values. Gemplus is not only the world's leading provider of smart cards, but also works on EMV migration projects with banks around the world. This makes Gemplus the natural choice for Parex Bank’s long-term EMV migration program.\" Says Andris Riekstins, Payment Card division manager, Parex bank.

Editor’s Notes

EMV is a smart card standard that was created in 1996 and developed by Europay, MasterCard and Visa. EMV specifies that, by 2005, all debit/credit payment cards in Europe will be smart cards rather than magnetic stripe cards. Visa and MasterCard Europe have put in place a number of incentives to ensure that banks across Europe manage to meet the deadline. The EMV standard is recognized internationally, guaranteeing worldwide interoperability and security.

About Gemplus

GEMPLUS: the world's leading provider of smart card solutions

Gemplus helps its clients offer an exceptional range of portable, personalized solutions that bring security and convenience to people's lives. These include mobile Internet access, inter-operable banking facilities, e-commerce and a wealth of other applications.
Gemplus is the only completely dedicated, truly global player in the Smart Card industry, with the largest R&D team, unrivalled experience, and an outstanding track record of technological innovation.
In 2001, Gemplus was the worldwide smart card leader in both revenues and total smart card shipments (source: Gartner-Dataquest and Frost & Sullivan). Gemplus was also awarded Frost & Sullivan's 2002 Market Value Award for its exceptional performance.
Gemplus trades its shares on Euronext Paris S.A. First Market and on the NASDAQ Stock Market as GEMP in the form of ADSs. Its revenue in 2001 was 1 billion Euros.

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