Paderborn / Sao Paulo, July 7th, 2010–Morpho* (Safran group), a world leader in the smart cards business, and Assenda, a Colombian IT company belonging to the Carvajal Group, announce the start of EMV chip migration of all banking cards in Colombia. Morpho has a solid presence in Latin America, while Assenda is one of the main payment and identification cards manufacturers in Colombia and has a strong profile throughout Latin America.

The partnership between the two companies began in early 2008, when the Colombian government announced the mandatory replacement of existing magstripe cards by new, secure, smart card-based technology. Today the two companies can celebrate successful chip migration services for more than 15 Colombian banks. All Colombian financial institutions have launched chip migration, and it is estimated that all credit and debit cards will be migrated during the next four years.

“The partnership with Assenda is a strategic step in addressing the South American financial market during the expected chip migration process over the next years. It offers a closer relationship and higher technology availability to all our customers in the region. Along with our proven, competitive EMV chip technologies and our international expertise in smart card manufacturing, we have designed a business model that provides a smooth transition to Colombian financial institutions and their clients. Morpho was selected as a partner for 80% of all bank pilots in Columbia”, said Marcelo Bellini, Vice President Sales Banking & IAM Americas, e-Documents Division of Morpho.

“This partnership with Morpho allows us to offer the financial institutions in Colombia a key solution for their EMV migration process, one which meets the expectations and needs of Colombian banks, including chip cards for MasterCard, Visa and Private Label, the upgrade of Assenda’s personalization centers for the local personalization of EMV cards and a very high level of consulting and support for the success of this implementation,” said Carlos Narvaez, Assenda Global Payment Solutions Manager.

*On May 27th 2010, Sagem Orga’s parent company Sagem Sécurité was renamed Morpho. Sagem Orga became part of Morpho e-Documents Division.

About Morpho

Morpho, a high-technology company in the Safran group, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of identification, detection and e-document solutions. Morpho is specialized in personal rights and flow management applications, in particular based on biometrics, a sector in which it is the world leader, as well as secure terminals and smart cards. Morpho’s integrated systems and equipment are deployed worldwide and contribute to the safety and security of transportation, data, people and countries.

For more information: http://www.morpho.com, http://www.safran-group.com

Morpho e-Documents as a Division of Morpho is a pioneer and a global leader in the smart card industry. The Morpho Division develops and implements cutting-edge technology to turn the vision of unbounded mobile communications and integrated digital security into a reality. The portfolio of the Morpho e-Documents Division includes hardware, software, consulting and services, all focused on smart cards for the benefit of consumers and providers in the telecommunications, health, identification and banking areas.

For more information: http://www.morpho.com/e-documents

Assenda

Assenda S.A. is the leading BPO solutions provider for the Financial, Government, Health and Trade, and Consumer Products sectors. Its technology and BPO solutions start from the required Consulting services to understand the strategy of companies and the elements required to fulfill it (processes, technology, people), through Information Technology, which is required for companies to operate efficiently, to the Outsourcing of Processes. It also counts on the Payment Method and Identification Systems Sector, which has the best technology for the manufacture of cards, value documents and identification systems to provide organizations with the information needed to streamline payment, loyalty and identification processes of clients, suppliers, or employees. The Payment Method and Identification Systems Sector has a production plant in Cali and three Personalization Centers in Bogotá, Medellin, and Cali. Assenda operates in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Panama, El Salvador, and Mexico.

http://www.assenda.com

Press contact

Morpho e-documents Division
Mareike BLUMENTRATH
Phone: +49 (0) 52 51/ 8 89–1216
Mobile: +49 (0) 162/ 200 77 61
mareike.blumentrath@sagem-orga.com
http://www.morpho.com/e-documents

Press Office–PressTexto Comunição
Raony Pacheco / Ricardo Pinheiro
Phone: 55 11 2694-1142
raony@presstexto.com.br
ricardo@presstexto.com.br
http://www.presstexto.com.br