Thales today announced that it has been honoured with the MasterCard Asia Pacific OneSMART Platinum Award for Innovation 2005, which was presented on 12 th July at the MasterCard Annual Members Paypass & OneSMART Conference in Taipei . Thales was presented with the award for its groundbreaking work in helping MasterCard provide the payment solution for Southern Taiwa n ’s transportation system, through the application of its industry leading solution for data chip preparation – P3™. MasterCard also recognised the major contribution Thales has made in helping the company successfully implement its EMV & OneSMART strategy over the past 10 years.

The Thales P3™ solution offers the ability to generate data for credit/debit and electronic purse payment chip cards and minimises the need to make changes to the issuer's host system thereby reducing implementation costs and timescales. It also generates and maintains the cryptographic keys required for the secure personalisation of cards. The open architecture of P3 enables data to be prepared and loaded easily onto a variety of smart card technologies.

The successful completion of the Kaohsiung City Government (KCG) transportation project, which will unify Taiwan ’s transportation system through an integrated payment system, will be an example of P3™ in action. The KCG project includes the launch of the world’s first MasterCard OneSMART™ PayPass™ Chip Combi Card, a dual interface smart card, formally known as the TaiwanMoney Card.

The TaiwanMoney Card will double as an e-ticket for mass transit in Southern Taiwan and enable citizens to easily pay for transportation usage on intercity coaches, local buses, trains, harbour ferries, and public car parks. The fully integrated contact and contactless chip solution will bring cardholders added convenience, flexibility and security when going about their daily activities.

The card will be issued with multiple applications, enabling it to be used as a regular EMV payment card and, as the adoption of contactless payment terminals takes off, the card can also be used for contactless transactions. The application keys, essential to the secure operation of the card, are generated and issued by Thales’ P3 secure data preparation system.

Shuan Ghaidan, Vice President and Regional Head, Advanced Payment Systems, Asia Pacific, MasterCard International, said: "The TaiwanMoney Card represents a landmark achievement in smart card issuance and as the world's first MasterCard OneSMART™ PayPass™ Chip Combi Card programme, robust and reliable security was a primary concern. Thales and its P3 product powers many card issuance programmes around the world, in applications ranging from payment to national identity. Our first hand experience of Thales’ expertise and reliability over the last decade made it an important partner for a project of such significance."

Richard Mallett, Asia Pacific Managing Director of Thales e-Security activities, added: “MasterCard is setting the pace of smart card development, not just in the Asia-Pac region, but across the globe. Together we have developed solutions that push the boundaries of smart card application and we are excited about what the future holds. I think this award confirms the strength of our partnership with MasterCard and is a tribute to the strength of Thales’ offerings.”

About Thales

Thales is an international electronics and systems group, serving defence, aerospace, services and security markets. The group employs 61,500 people worldwide and generated revenues of €10.3 billion in 2004.

Operating in three main markets covering e-security, card payment and network security, Thales’ e-security activities address the business, government and finance industries’ need for cryptographic security products and solutions. Over half of the world’s banks, together with the majority of the busiest exchanges, currently use Thales technology. For more than 20 years the company has been at the forefront of security and payment technology, co-operating and contributing to set the industry standards used for financial transactions and e-commerce globally. Thales’ e-security business offers a wide range of security solutions to protect Government and Defence critical information infrastructures, thereby positioning the company as a leading worldwide supplier of certified network security products.

About P3™
The Thales’ P3 system is designed to provide card issuers with a ready-made way of migrating from magnetic stripe cards to smart cards. Aimed primarily at the payments card industry, it offers the ability to generate data for credit/debit and electronic purse payment cards. Using P3 reduces or eliminates the need to make changes to the issuer's host system thereby reducing implementation costs and timescales. Ideal for use in both personalisation bureaux and in-house card issuers such as banks and similar institutions, P3 generates and maintains the cryptographic keys required for the secure personalisation of cards. This includes the exchange of public key certificates with the scheme Certification Authorities operated by associations such as Visa and MasterCard.

About MasterCard® PayPass™
MasterCard PayPass is a new contactless payment program that provides consumers with a simple way to pay. Using MasterCard PayPass, consumers simply “tap” their payment card, or alternative PayPass form factor, on a specially equipped merchant terminal, eliminating the need to swipe a card through a reader or fumble for cash and coins. The new solution is ideal for quick payment environments where speed is essential, such as quick serve restaurants, gas stations, drug stores, supermarkets and movie theatres.

Press Contact:
Sharon Brennan
Hotwire
+44 (0) 20 7608 4628
sharon.brennan@hotwirepr.com

Sarah Milligan
Thales e-Security
+44 (0)1844 204181
sarah.milligan@thales-esecurity.com