Smart Card Costs Lowered by 33 Percent

Singapore, March 14, 2003–MasterCard International today announced that a number of technology vendors will be supplying smart cards in support of its new US$1.99 multiapplication smart card program. MasterCard’s US$1.99 smart card program is part of its overall OneSMART MasterCard strategy to provide members with greater technology choices, support and critical flexibility they need to launch a successful smart card program. With the support of these leading vendors, MasterCard will further accelerate the migration of payment cards to multi-application smart cards in Asia/Pacific and worldwide.

MasterCard first introduced its MULTOS-based multiapplication smart card under its US$2.99 chip program in December 2000. Now, MasterCard has brought down the price of its state of the art, 16K multi-application MULTOS card by 33 percent to US$1.99.

The US$1.99 card contains MasterCard’s EMV compliant M/Chip™ credit/debit application, Mondex e-cash, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) file storage and PKI identification applications built into the chip, ready for enablement as required by MasterCard’s member financial institutions. The ability to offer these high specification smart cards at such a competitive price was made possible by the increasing numbers of such cards being issued.

“The US$1.99 smart card program supports MasterCard’s OneSMART umbrella of smart card solutions that are designed to be flexible and relevant to our members. With the drop in price of MasterCard’s multi-application smart card and the support of leading technology vendors around the region, MasterCard has again demonstrated to the marketplace why it is the best partner for smart cards. MasterCard’s vendor partners can now build on our previous success and provide our members with secure, sophisticated smart cards at an even more cost-efficient price,” said Shuan Ghaidan, vice president, Advanced Payment Systems, Asia/Pacific, MasterCard International.

Vendors that support MasterCard’s US$1.99 chip program include KeyCorp Ltd (Australia), ORGA Card Systems (Singapore), AMS Co (Korea), DZ Card (South East Asia), FoongTone Technology (Taiwan), KBC Corp (Korea), Kyodo Printing (Japan), Security Plastics (New Zealand), Shoei Printing Co (Japan), Taiwan Name Plate (Taiwan), Toppan Form HK (Hong Kong) and Versatile Card Technology (USA).

“When it comes to fraud prevention, cardholders and banks need to know they are being supplied the most secure proven solution available, which chip technology provides,” explained Tim Fletcher, Keycorp’s General Manager, Smartcard Technologies.

“We are committed to supporting the industry’s move to the chip platform. We successfully participated in the previous MULTOS program and look forward to working with MasterCard on continuing the implementation of multi-application smart cards,” said Fiona Tan-Charlton, Deputy General Manager ORGA Asia.

MasterCard continues to lead in the multiapplication smart card arena in Asia/Pacific. Worldwide, there are more than 127 million MasterCard-, Maestro-, MondexR-branded smart cards issued and more than half of them carry value-added applications like loyalty, digital ID, e-ticketing, e-coupons or personal data storage.

About MasterCard International

MasterCard International is a leader in global e-business. MasterCard is focused on providing its member financial institutions with customized, meaningful global e-business solutions that connect them to their accountholders. Through its investment in industry innovation, participation in standards development and business alliances, MasterCard is staying in the forefront of technology integration to enable anytime, anywhere payments across multiple channels and various devices. MasterCard’s global e-business solutions include Internet security, smart cards, mobile commerce/wireless, business to business electronic commerce, and numerous emerging technologies.

MasterCard International has a comprehensive portfolio of well-known, widely accepted payment brands including MasterCard, Cirrus and Maestro. With approximately 25,000 MasterCard, Cirrus and Maestro members worldwide, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses, both large and small, in 210 countries and territories. MasterCard is a leader in quality and innovation, offering a wide range of payment solutions in the virtual and traditional worlds. The MasterCard award-winning Priceless advertising campaign is now seen in 96 countries and in 45 languages, giving the MasterCard brand a truly global reach and scope. With more than 30 million acceptance locations, including over 820,000 MasterCard/Maestro/Cirrus ATMs around the world, no payment card is more widely accepted globally than MasterCard. For the year ended December 31, 2002, gross dollar volume exceeded US$1.14 trillion. MasterCard can be reached through its website at http://www.mastercardinternational.com.