--- begin forwarded text From: davidk@air.com X-Sender: saguaro@pop.tiac.net (Unverified) Date: Sat, 17 May 1997 16:56:13 -0400 To: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com> Subject: MULTOS announcement from MasterCard --- FYI Mime-Version: 1.0 MasterCard launches global smart card platform Date: 97-05-15 16:38:28 EDT From: AOL News NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 1997-- Platform provides MasterCard member financial institutions with complete solution in migrating to chip-based payment products MasterCard International today became the first payments brand to begin implementing a complete solution for making the widespread use of smart cards a marketplace reality by the new millennium. By embracing a new open-platform technology called MULTOS as its smart card operating platform, MasterCard member banks will now have access to an unprecedented technology that will enable a single smart card to support a number of different products, securely and independently. The MULTOS (multi-application operating system) technology, which was announced today by eight of the leading silicon manufacturers and smart card companies from the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia uses the proven Mondex security architecture which allows applications to be dynamically and securely loaded onto a smart card. With MULTOS, not only can members load applications when the card is issued, but cardholders will be able to load or change applications after the card has been issued by going on-line to the card issuer, via telephone, the ATM or across the Internet. This allows applications and security upgrades to be introduced without reissuing cards, and for cardholders to "customize" their card with the applications they choose. Paired with the MULTOS technology is a MasterCard migration plan that gives financial institutions around the world the flexibility to enter into the smart card arena when it's right for their markets and their businesses. Together, MULTOS and the MasterCard migration plan support a wide range of implementation schemes -- from the most comprehensive to the most modest -- ensuring that member banks can bring smart cards to market in a way that is useful for the cardholder and profitable for the bank. "The business case for smart cards varies among markets and countries, and so the key to a successful migration from magnetic stripe cards to smart cards is flexibility," said MasterCard President and CEO Robert W. Selander. "In our migration strategy we have a flexible approach that lets every member move to smart cards at a time and pace that is best for their business. And in MULTOS we have a superior technology that is `future-friendly.' MULTOS will enable our members to embrace smart card technology, and at the same time, give them the confidence that today's investment will not be obsolete tomorrow. By incorporating MULTOS technology into our smart card migration strategy, we are offering our members the only complete smart card solution available today," he said. "As an open-technology platform, we support the flexibility MULTOS offers, and realize that by investing in MULTOS, we are investing in the future of the industry," said Dudley Nigg, executive vice president, Online Financial Services for Wells Fargo Bank. "It also enables us to truly differentiate ourselves by the types of services we provide our cardholders." G. Henry Mundt III, MasterCard executive vice president, Global Deposit Access, said the MULTOS technology offers distinct benefits to members that other operating systems cannot. "Unlike other chip delivery platforms in the marketplace today, MULTOS provides our members with multiple sources of interoperable cards - eliminating any risk associated with being locked into a single silicon supplier or card manufacturer." Mundt, who oversees MasterCard's smart card business, also explained how members can use MULTOS to differentiate their services to their cardholders. "What a MULTOS-based card becomes to the cardholder is a lifestyle card, allowing the consumer to include the standard applications of credit and debit, along with other personally selected applications such as Mondex electronic cash, an airline loyalty program and a transit pass. The ability for our members to meet their cardholders' changing needs by adding or deleting card applications that can be tailored in real time, through the telephone, an ATM or across the Internet, is bringing the future of money to life for the consumer, now," he added. MasterCard's global smart card strategy incorporates the following features and deliverables: -- A set of product specifications and associated applications, which will include MasterCard credit and debit, and Mondex electronic cash, that can be combined with member proprietary programs. Specifications will be available in the third quarter of this year, and applications will be available in the first quarter of 1998. The MULTOS API (application program interface) specifications will be available in the third quarter of 1997. -- The most advanced open-technology platform, introduced on a non-proprietary "open systems" basis to enable it to be used as a standard across various industries interested in using smart cards, such as finance, retail, travel and telecommunications. MULTOS technology will enable a single smart card to support a number of different products, securely and independently. MULTOS applications will need to be written only once and are compatible with any MULTOS card, regardless of which company has manufactured the card or which silicon chip is used. Applications on the card are kept totally separate and independent by highly secure "firewalls." -- A support infrastructure to ensure global acceptance of smart cards. Revised rules and operating procedures for MasterCard members will be available later this year. -- A range of application development tools and protocols will be provided in the third quarter 1997, to enable application developers to produce products for MULTOS. -- Compliance with industry standards: MULTOS is entirely compatible with the EMV '96 standards related to integrated circuit cards for payment systems created by Europay, MasterCard and Visa. MasterCard credit and debit products implemented on MULTOS for the first quarter 1998 will be fully EMV compliant. "MULTOS allows MasterCard and Mondex members to combine, for example, the Mondex purse with their own products and services on a single card - while being assured that the security and integrity of each product or application is guaranteed by the firewalls that are a unique feature of MULTOS," said Mondex President Michael Keegan. "This is a great step forward for the financial services industry. This means that, for the first time, card issuers can use the security, reliability and flexibility of the smart card to deliver a range of products and services to their customers - securely and economically, allowing the consumer to carry fewer, more useful cards." MasterCard International, a payments company with one of the world's most recognized brands, is dedicated to helping more than 23,000 financial institutions around the world offer consumers a variety of payment options. MasterCard remains focused on helping shape the future of money by expanding acceptance of its global brands (MasterCard(R), Maestro(R) and Cirrus(R), the world's largest ATM network; MasterCard also owns 51 per cent of electronic cash leader Mondex International) and maintaining reliable, secure networks facilitating global value exchange. MasterCard has 400 million credit and debit cards that are accepted at more than 13 million acceptance locations worldwide. In 1996, gross dollar volume generated exceeded $550 billion. MasterCard can be reached through its World Wide Web site at http://www.mastercard.com . -0- Note: On Thursday, May 15 at 9 a.m. EST, MasterCard's long-term chip card strategy and the MULTOS technology will be announced during a teleconference call. Participants can join the call by dialing 800-553-0272 in the U.S. and 612- 332-0523 outside the U.S. MasterCard Launches Global Smart Card Platform May 15, 1997 CONTACT: MasterCard International Marianne Fulgenzi, 914/249-5443 Julie Jacobs, Shandwick, 212/309-0620 --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com), Philodox e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' The e$ Home Page: http://www.shipwright.com/