Schlumberger Wins Contract to Provide EMV Smart Cards to National Australia Group Europe
PARIS, (BUSINESS WIRE), July 28, 2003–Schlumberger Smart Cards & Terminals, a business unit of Schlumberger Limited, today announced that it has signed a four-year contract with National Australia Group Europe to supply over 2.5 million of its top-level security e-Galleon(1) cards a year.
National Australia Bank Limited ranks in the top 100 banks worldwide based on assets. The bank has a major presence in the UK and the Republic of Ireland through its ownership of Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank, Northern Bank and National Irish Bank.
The e-Galleon card from Schlumberger offers cardholders a range of features for enhanced security, comprehensive risk management and faster transaction times. “Security for our customers and eliminating fraudulent transactions is one of our highest priorities,” said Brent Skeffington from National Australia Europe. “The e-galleon smart card will be a key tool in enabling us to provide a secure service to our customers. We are looking forward to deploying these cards in our branches throughout the UK and Ireland over the next four years.”
“The move to EMV cards that enable the use of a PIN rather than a signature at the point of sale is the next step in the battle against card fraud,” said Howard Berg, regional director for the UK and Ireland at Schlumberger Smart Cards & Terminals. “As a worldwide smart card technology provider, Schlumberger is ideally positioned to partner with companies in the banking community, drawing on our business expertise across consulting and EMV project management to support our banking customers’ global activities.”
The project marks the first time Schlumberger cards will be used to support dual currency, using pound sterling for UK transactions and euros for the Republic of Ireland.
Schlumberger has a proven track record of delivering a wide range of business solutions, services and products that improve the competitive advantage of financial institutions, while providing them with the highest level of security possible.
About National Australia Group
National Australia Bank Group, (The National) is an international financial services group operating across four continents and 15 countries including Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Asia.
The National has an asset base of over GBP131 billion ($212 billion), assets under management and administration of more than GBP21 billion, assets under custody and administration of GBP127 billion. With almost 8 million banking and more than 2.8 million Wealth Management customers globally, it is ranked as one of the 50 largest banks in the world by revenue.
Financial Services Europe (FSE) is the retail banking arm of National Australia Group for Great Britain and Ireland. Following recent changes, FSE includes all European based consumer, business and agribusiness banking, together with cards, payments, leasing and shared services.
Members of Financial Services Europe include Clydesdale Bank in Glasgow, Yorkshire Bank in Leeds, Northern Bank in Belfast and National Irish Bank in Dublin.
About Schlumberger Smart Cards & Terminals
Schlumberger Smart Cards & Terminals is the world’s leading provider of microprocessor cards (Gartner 2003, Frost & Sullivan 2003)–the key to digital networks–and a major supplier of card-related terminals and transaction software. Its 5000 employees serve customers in more than 100 countries, with worldwide sales exceeding 2.6 billion smart cards to date. The company has more than 20 years’ experience in smart card innovation and leads its industry in security technology and open systems.
Schlumberger Smart Cards & Terminals continuously creates new generations of products for use in a variety of applications in the telecommunications, finance, retail, transport, entertainment, healthcare, personal identification, information technology and public sector markets. Smart card solutions provide convenience, security and privacy to public and private services operators, their customers and end users.
For more information, visit us at http://www.smartcards.net.
Contacts
Herald Communications
Arnaud Malherbe, +33 (0)1 47 42 92 76
Fax: +33 (0)1 42 66 39 59
amalherbe@herald-com.fr
or
Schlumberger Smart Cards & Terminals
Richard Venturi, +33 (0)1 46 00 71 04
Mobile: +33 (0)6 22 17 37 14
Fax: +33 (0)1 46 00 68 66
rventuri@montrouge.sema.slb.com