Munich, July 16, 2008–Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) has won a contract from the German health insurer Kaufmännische Krankenkasse (KKH) and 28 corporate health insurance funds to manufacture and supply around ten million electronic healthcare cards. The delivery scope includes optical and electronic personalization of the smart cards with individual data relating to the insured persons and their insurers. G&D will also be dispatching the new insurance cards to the insured, with roll-out scheduled to start in January 2009.

“We were convinced by the sophisticated technical concept, coupled with Giesecke & Devrient’s experience of major projects in the healthcare sector,” is how KKH chairman Ingo Kailuweit summarizes the organization’s choice, following a Europe-wide call for tenders to find the most suitable supplier. Medical data are highly sensitive, and data protection is a prime consideration in such a project. G&D is so far the only manufacturer to have been awarded an IT security certificate by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) for cards issued in test regions.

Hans Wolfgang Kunz, head of the Government Solutions business unit at G&D, commented that “Giesecke & Devrient has worked tremendously hard to develop and implement a powerful technical system for the electronic health insurance card. Our customers benefit from state-of-the-art technology and absolute precision in our smart-card production. We deliver the perfect complete package solution.”

The electronic health insurance card will initially store the policyholder’s basic data, such as their name, address, date of birth and health insurance fund, along with details of insurance coverage and the person’s status regarding supplementary charges. A photo of the cardholder provides additional protection against misuse of the card. The new smart card will in the first instance be used for electronic prescriptions and is already designed to store a qualified electronic signature that legally and technically replaces the need for users to sign by hand. This feature would make it possible for holders of an electronic healthcare card to identify themselves to authorities in areas such as e-government applications.

Insured persons have the option of ordering a “PIN Home Package” from the KKH. This contains a special card reader and software for connection to a home PC. It allows insured persons to check their current basic data or emergency information voluntarily stored on the card at any time.

Giesecke & Devrient is a leader of innovation in telematics applications to modernize the healthcare sector. Roughly every fourth smart card in Germany’s electronic healthcare sector comes from G&D. In addition to the smart card itself, the Munich-based technology company is to supply a powerful background system that will control all the functions in the lifecycle of some 70 percent of all health insurance cards in Germany. The technology from Munich has proven itself many times over in Germany, where the electronic healthcare card was introduced in various regions for test purposes, as well as in international projects in Taiwan and Austria.

About Giesecke & Devrient

Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is a technology leader in the field of smart cards, providing smart card-based solutions for telecommunications, electronic payment, healthcare, ID, transportation, and IT security (PKI). G&D is also a leading producer of banknotes and security documents and is dominant in the field of currency automation. Based in Munich, Germany, the G&D Group maintains subsidiaries and joint ventures around the world. In fiscal 2007, the Group employed close to 9,000 people and generated revenue of almost €1.5 billion.
For more information, visit our website at http://www.gi-de.com.

About Kaufmännische Krankenkasse

Kaufmännische Krankenkasse (KKH) is Germany’s fourth-largest nationwide health insurance fund, with about two million members. It is well known as a pioneer of innovative healthcare models within the statutory health insurance system. Its workforce of over 4,300 provides an excellent service, developing farsighted health programs and helping insured persons to adopt a healthy lifestyle. The fund’s annual budget totals more than four billion euros. The KKH headquarters are in Hanover.

Contacts

Giesecke & Devrient GmbH
Daniela Gaigl, Press Officer
Prinzregentenstrasse 159
81607 Munich, Germany
Phone: +49-(0)89-4119-1622, Fax: -1208
E-mail: daniela.gaigl@gi-de.com
http://www.gi-de.com

Kaufmännische Krankenkasse
Daniela Friedrich, Press Officer
Karl-Wiechert-Allee 61
D-30625 Hanover
Phone: +49-(0)511 2802-1610
Fax: 0511 2802-1699
E-mail: presse@kkh.de
http://www.kkh.de