Innovative Combination of Security Features and Identity Technologies Breaks New Ground in ID Cards

Mountain View, Calif., February 9, 2010–LaserCard Corporation (NASDAQ:LCRD; http://www.lasercard.com), a leading provider of secure ID solutions, today launched its newest generation of multi-technology ID credentials. Compliant with key North American and European identity program standards, the cards enable governments to meet the demanding requirements of both North American registered border crossing and European foreign resident card programs. LaserCard will showcase its EU-compliant credentials at Secure Document World in London, February 9-19, booth C11.

North America

For the North American market, LaserCard has introduced a Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) compliant credential incorporating a Gen 2 UHF RFID tag in combination with LaserCard’s optical security media. This groundbreaking development was the result of LaserCard’s extensive industrial and technology collaboration which aims to deliver purpose-built, highly performing solutions to meet specific market needs.

Governments worldwide are increasingly calling for powerful multi-purpose ID credentials that will cost-effectively maintain the highest levels of security while addressing secondary objectives related to more rapid processing, facility access control and e-government services. In this WHTI-compliant card, the RFID facilitates the processing of individuals at busy land border crossings, while the tamperproof optical security media provides unparalleled visual and physical security countermeasures against counterfeiting and fraud.

“The realities of modern ID projects demand a pragmatic and technology-inclusive approach to card design,” said Robert DeVincenzi, president and CEO of LaserCard. “Through our continuous innovation program, we are beginning to unlock new potential for multi purpose credentials that help governments enhance border security while simultaneously improving service delivery.”

European Union

LaserCard has also introduced an optical security media-based credential that is compliant with European Union Regulations defining Community-wide uniform standards for Foreign Resident Permit credentials. Manufacturing innovations, pioneered by LaserCard, enable the combination of an ICAO-compliant chip, mandated by EU standards, with optical security media, which is formally approved within the standards as a supplementary “national security feature.”

For those European Community nations that additionally incorporate an optional contact chip for e-government applications into their foreign resident permits, LaserCard offers either a fully finished card or chip-ready card stock suitable for chip embedding by a third party. The card design takes account of the need to accommodate three advanced technologies while ensuring that the contact chip is located in the ISO-standard location on the reverse side of the card as defined by the EU standards.

These new standards-compliant credentials are the result of LaserCard’s pioneering innovation in manufacturing techniques to combine optical security media with the most commonly used machine-readable technologies such as barcodes, optical character recognition, contact chips, contactless chips, RFID tags and magnetic stripes. Technology inclusiveness of this kind ensures compatibility with widely installed infrastructures while capitalizing on the optical media for essential secure visual and physical identification plus tamperproof portable data storage.

Visual and Physical Security

Under real world conditions, the majority of ID credentials are still authenticated by human inspection since automatic readers are not typically available at most inspection and transaction points. Credential examiners therefore need a highly reliable means of visually authenticating a document and identifying its holder. The latest advances in LaserCard’s optical security media have strengthened this “at-a-glance” credential authentication and put the possibility of credible forgeries even further beyond the reach of counterfeiters.

LaserCard’s recent innovations include advances in secure imaging, such as ultra-high resolution (24,000 bpi) security artwork, a photo-like cardholder image laser etched into the optical security media (LaserCard’s Personalized Embedded HologramHD), and other new features, such as complex background images that permanently lock the security elements together to enhance visual authentication. In addition, LaserCard’s optical security media offers the unique capability of covertly interleaving visual and digital information to provide very advanced forensic credential and data authentication. These advances together provide exceptional protection against tampering and counterfeiting.

A white paper detailing the latest advances to LaserCard’s optical security media is available at http://www.lasercard.com/opticalmedia.php.

About LaserCard Corporation

LaserCard Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, is a leading provider of secure ID solutions to governments and commercial clients worldwide. It develops, manufactures, and integrates LaserCard® optical memory cards, multi-technology cards, encoders, peripherals, smart and specialty cards, biometrics, and modular software. The Company’s cards and systems are used in various applications, including citizen identification, border security, government service delivery and facility access.

For further information, please visit http://www.lasercard.com.

Contacts

Ellen Brook
ebrook@lasercard.com
+1 650 267 1949

Mary McEvoy Carroll
mmcevoy@lasercard.com
+1 408 691 4283