Korea’s C&C to assign U.S. Patent and supply transit equipment

NEW YORK, NY, NOVEMBER 23, 2004–New York-based Smart Systems has announced a partnership with C&C Enterprise Co., Ltd. of South Korea to promote the use of credit and debit cards directly at transit gates in North America. C&C is the integrator of the Seoul transit system, the largest smart-card system in the world, with 30 million credit cards creating 6.5 million transactions per day there. As part of the deal, Smart Systems is assigned the U.S. patent that covers the offline authorization of a smart credit card at a transit gate, the speediest fraud-prevention method.

“We are the only company offering transit agencies the technology and the business model for credit and debit cards at the gates and bus boxes,” said Michael J. Simon, CEO of Smart Systems. “Our concept is to make financial institutions pay for transit installations.” Tapping their Korean partner’s staff, facilities and expertise, Smart Systems offers transit equipment, back-end settlement of transactions and financing of installations. They propose that transit properties become normal merchants in the credit system in which banks pay for cards and perform the back-end functions of account management, thus saving agencies these costs. Transit agencies and card issuers on the East Coast have taken notice and some are even talking about pilots.

Card issuers see transit as the way to enter the micropayment market, which comprises almost 20% of all transactions in the U.S. If a critical mass of customers have smart credit cards, it will be easier to promote the use of smart point-of-sale devices, which offer enhanced security, faster transaction time, less maintenance and increased customer convenience.

“We are just the latest version of an historical movement in transit fare collection from stored-value to account-based cards, outsourced card processing and regional payment systems,” explained Mr. Simon. “It’s natural to ask the financial industry to pay for installations, particularly since 9/11.”

For more information on Smart Systems, contact John J. Lee at 212-858-7540 or visit http://www.smartsystemsco.com.