Sophia-Antipolis, July 07, 2008–ASK announces today that the SPID inlay, product of its Identity Business Unit, has successfully passed the ICAO PIRA International tests.

PIRA’s well-known independent laboratories have built up a very broad range of chemical, physical and security testing services and in 2005 and expanded these into testing of electronic identification devices. ASK has requested third party endorsement that ePassports under test meet and exceed the durability standards defined by the latest ICAO technical reports. PIRA ran the recommended ICAO tests and added sequences beyond the minimum requirements in order to ensure optimum durability. As a result, the booklet embedding the ASK SPID inlay withstand 20,000 bending ICAO cycles without any failures. Typically, the silver antenna directly printed onto the substrate offers outstanding mechanical characteristics and adds physical security to the document.

“We are proud to have achieved such results. Our technology based on a printed antenna and flip chip process proved to be totally suitable for the Identity market” declares Hervé Naullet, ASK Identity Product Manager. “We worked closely with all actors of the value chain in order to make sure that our inlays would fit any National Printing Houses equipment,” he adds.

ASK has developed SPID, a comprehensive range of e-passport inlays (and e-covers) to address the various needs of government bodies and National Printing Houses. SPID is available with different materials such as paper, Teslin® and polycarbonate in order to fit with market requirements. As requested by ASK’s customers involved in the security field, the SPID inlays are manufactured in a secure environment into ASK’s facilities in the south of France.

About ASK

ASK, with over 120 million contactless products in circulation in more than 50 countries, is a worldwide leading provider of a full range of contactless products including smart cards, smart tickets, smart adhesive labels, readers, inlays for electronic passports or contactless smart cards and eDocuments. ASK is ISO9001 certified and holds a portfolio of 53 patents to date. ASK is a France-headquartered company with worldwide customers with wholly-owned subsidiaries in the US, Singapore and a Joint Venture in China.

Contact

Claire Boyer
Tel: +33 (0)4.97.21.48.56
Cell: +33 (0)6.72.14.01.46
claire.boyer@ask.fr
http://www.ask-rfid.com

About Pira

Established over 80 years ago, Pira International is a leading commercial consultancy testing and media business specializing in the paper printing plastics packaging and consumer goods sectors. With headquarters and ISO 17025 accredited laboratories in Leatherhead, UK and offices and laboratories in four locations across the USA it operates globally. It is a main player in the testing of secure documents, e-passports and ID cards.

Contact

Michael Chamberlain
Tel.: +44 (0)1372 802157
Cell: +44 (0) 7725 245920
michael.chamberlain@pira-international.com
http://www.pira-international.com