SIA uses Gemalto's TSM platform to link service providers, speed up nationwide NFC roll-out in Italy

Business Wire via ITWeb,

Amsterdam, 05 Mar 2013

Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, and SIA, a major international payments processor for banks, corporate and public administration bodies, are joining forces to support rapid deployment of NFC services throughout Italy. Gemalto and SIA team up for the first national TSM infrastructure in Europe that can be utilised by all of the market's key stakeholders, accessible to the country's largest mobile network operators and leading banks.

Currently being piloted in preparation of a full commercial launch in mid-2013, SIA has already secured the support of primary Italian telecom operators and banks to provide NFC services through its central hub that enables contactless payment transactions. It will offer the benefits of the Allynis Trusted Service Management for Service Providers platform operated by Gemalto's European secure data centre, which is certified by Visa and MasterCard.

Up to 200 000 contactless payment terminals will be deployed in Italy by the end of 2013. By offering a secure and scalable infrastructure that ensures full interoperability and can seamlessly accommodate new service providers, SIA is putting Italy at the forefront of the cashless revolution and will help enable millions of consumers to make payments with just the tap of their mobile phone.

"By creating a central hub, we meet the needs of both the banking and telecoms sectors fostering the NFC ecosystem and mobile payments," said Nicola Cordone, SIA Deputy General Manager. "Using Gemalto's proven platform, SIA is allowing all stakeholders to avoid numerous individual arrangements when introducing new contactless services."

"Across the world, momentum is gathering behind mobile NFC payment, and in Italy in particular, where Gemalto already has a strong footprint in TSM implementations," said Jean-Claude Deturche, Gemalto Senior Vice-President, Mobile Financial Services. "Through this new deployment, SIA will benefit from our effective approach to accelerating the roll-out and mass adoption of NFC services."

Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security, with 2011 annual revenue of EUR2 billion and more than 10 000 employees operating out of 74 offices and 14 Research & Development centres, located in 43 countries.

We are at the heart of the rapidly evolving digital society. Billions of people worldwide increasingly want the freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain and work - anytime, everywhere - in ways that are enjoyable and safe. Gemalto delivers on their expanding needs for personal mobile services, payment security, authenticated cloud access, identity and privacy protection, eHealthcare and eGovernment efficiency, convenient ticketing and dependable machine-to-machine (M2M) applications.

Gemalto develops secure embedded software and secure products, which we design and personalise. Our platforms and services manage these secure products, the confidential data they contain and the trusted end-user services they enable. Our innovations enable our clients to offer trusted and convenient digital services to billions of individuals.

Gemalto thrives with the growing number of people using its solutions to interact with the digital and wireless world.

For more information, visit www.gemalto.com, www.justaskgemalto.com, blog.gemalto.com, or follow @gemalto on Twitter.

SIA is European leader in the design, creation and management of technology infrastructures and services for financial and central institutions, corporates and public administration bodies, in the areas of payments, e-money, network services and capital markets.

SIA Group is currently present in around 40 countries and also operates through its subsidiaries in Hungary and South Africa. The company has offices in Milan and Brussels.

With 8.1 billion transactions annually relating to cards, collections and payments, 63 million cards managed and 22.3 billion transactions on financial markets, SIA carries 11.2 thousand billion bytes of data on the network. The group is made up of six companies: the parent SIA, the Italian companies Pi4Pay (services for payment institutions), RA Computer (treasury solutions for banks, businesses and PA), and TSP (payment collection services for companies and PA), Perago (infrastructures for central banks) in South Africa and SIA Central Europe in Hungary.

View this news release online at:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130304006541/en

Gemalto Media Contacts:

Asia Pacific
Yvonne Lim, (+65) 6317 3730
yvonne.lim@gemalto.com

North America
Nicole Smith, (+15) 12-758-8921
nicole.smith@gemalto.com

Latin America
Ernesto Haikewitsch, (+55) 11 51 05 92 20
ernesto.haikewitsch@gemalto.com

SIA Contacts:
Filippo Fantasia, (+39) 02 6084 2833
Mob. (+39) 335.1202713
Head of Media Coordination
filippo.fantasia@sia.eu

Valentina Piana, (+39) 02 6084 2334
Media Coordination
valentina.piana@sia.eu

(+33) 4 42 36 45 40 peggy.edoire@gemalto.com