Société Générale, in partnership with Visa Europe and Gemalto, announces the first 'contactless' payment card transaction in France

A novel experiment in France, initiated on 7 June by Société Générale in partnership with Visa Europe and Gemalto. A pilot scheme will begin from July onwards in which 1,000 card holders will be able to pay for small purchases in less than one second flat using a Visa Premier "contactless" bank card.

The first transaction in France using the "contactless Visa payWave card" was made today in collaboration with FNAC.

When paying for a purchase, customers wave the card in front of a contactless reader; a light comes on indicating authorisation; the transaction is validated. The process is simple, fast, just as secure as a conventional bank card and the card never leaves the holder's hand.

The transactions involve amounts of less than EUR 20, which are usually paid in cash. Cash payments represent around 85% of the transactions in Europe, of which 80% are for purchases below EUR 15. Above EUR 20, the traditional way of using a bank card is applied by inserting the card into a terminal and entering the PIN.

Contactless payment systems rely on the integration of a microscopic radio antenna fitted into the body of the card, enabling very short-range communication (a few centimetres) with the reader connected to the terminal.

A pilot scheme will begin from July, for a period of 6 months, in the business district of Paris La Défense, with the participation of some fifty retailers, 1,000 volunteer Société Générale employees and in collaboration with the GIE Cartes Bancaires for the regulatory and contractual aspects.

Other trials have already been performed in Europe, most notably in the UK and Turkey. At present, some 30 million contactless cards are in circulation in the United States and Canada where most banks have integrated the technology into their range of cards.

By the end of 2007, the trial by Société Générale, Visa Europe and Gemalto will allow them to obtain feedback from both users and retailers on this new payment method and also to analyse the buying patterns of contactless cardholders.

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Contactless payment overview:

Société Générale and contactless payment
In addition to the contactless payment card trial currently under way, Société Générale also teamed up with 6 banking and telecom players in early 2007 to study and test a contactless payment solution via mobile telephone. A pilot scheme is being prepared for the end of the year and should take place in Caen and Strasbourg.

Visa Europe and contactless payment

• Visa Europe has already deployed several projects worldwide based on contactless technology
• In the UK, Visa Europe has announced, in conjunction with its member banks, the project to launch a contactless Visa payWave card in London beginning in October 2007
• In conjunction with Barclaycard and Transport for London, Visa Europe has been chosen to deliver the technology behind the UK's first integrated travel and payment contactless card. In less than a second, the new Visa Barclaycard will enable secure purchases of everyday items under GBP 10, such as coffee and sandwiches, and also act as an Oyster travel pass to access the London tube and bus network
• In Europe, Visa Europe has also announced a Visa payWave contactless trial with Denizbank in Turkey. The pilot will begin with the Sea&Miles card in Istanbul for use in transport as well as making small purchases at certain retailers
• Alongside European interest, contactless payment is receiving positive feedback in the US and the Asia Pacific region. 7.3 million contactless Visa cards have been issued worldwide and over 34,000 shops and retailers currently accept this method of payment.

Gemalto and contactless payment

• Gemalto is participating in numerous projects in many regions including North America and Asia. In Europe, Gemalto is working with a major bank for the first trial to combine a mobile phone SIM card with a complete set of secure payment functions. In the framework of this initiative, launched in October 2006 in Strasbourg, the phone's SIM card acted as a bank card. This solution combines the simplicity of contactless payment together with the security of the microprocessor banking card while leveraging the great potential of mobile phones
  
• The technology of contactless payment, for a long time confined to the US, has now spread to the other continents. In Taiwan, 12% of intelligent payment cards ("smart cards") were equipped with this technology at the end of 2006. In the UK, a national rollout is expected for the first quarter in 2008 and Gemalto will take part in several trial projects
  Gemalto is also a major player in contactless payment systems in Asia, with the deployment of "combi-cards" for two leading Taiwanese banks, Cathay United Bank and Taipei Fubon Bank
  
• These cards simplify and speed up small-sum payments in Taiwan's mass rapid transport system (MRT), buses, parking lots and other locations, allowing cardholders to make secure and practical transactions using a high-tech system. All they need to do is place their card over the PayPass readers to make their purchases
  
• In Australia, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) picked Gemalto for its first PayPass pilot scheme. The first phase of the trial in New South Wales involved 33,000 CBA cardholders who can use their cards at more than 150 points of sale (fast food restaurants, convenience stores, etc.) for payments under AU$ 35. Freed from the need to enter a PIN or sign a receipt, customers and retailers enjoy faster transaction times and shorter queues
  
• Keen to go one step further, Gemalto used the Cartes tradeshow in France, in November 2006, to launch the world's first bank card meeting Visa's contactless specifications. This innovative, dual interface microprocessor card addresses EMV markets worldwide. It performs multiple types of Visa transaction, notably microprocessor payments with and without contact, and contactless payments using a magnetic strip. It can also be used for other applications such as transportation, access control and loyalty, allowing banks to offer a wide range of valuable services to their customers

Company information:

Société Générale
Société Générale is one of the largest financial services groups in the euro-zone. The Group employs 120,000 people worldwide in three key businesses:

Retail Banking & Financial Services: Société Générale serves more than 22,8 million individual customers worldwide

Global Investment Management & Services: Société Générale is one of the largest banks in the euro-zone in terms of assets under custody (EUR 2 448 billion, March 2007) and under management (EUR 441,4 billion, March 2007)

Corporate & Investment Banking: Société Générale ranks among the leading banks worldwide in euro capital markets, derivatives and structured finance. Société Générale is included in the five major socially-responsible investment indexes

For more information, please visit www.socgen.com

Visa Europe
In Europe, there are nearly 321 million Visa debit, credit and commercial cards. In the 12 months ending September 2006, those cards were used to make purchases and cash withdrawals to the value of over €1.2 trillion. For every €9 spent in Europe today, €1 is spent on a Visa card.

Visa Europe is a membership association - an organisation owned and operated by its 4,500 European member banks. As a dedicated European organisation it is able to respond quickly to the specific market needs of European banks and their customers - cardholders and retailers, and to meet the European Commission's objective to create a true internal market for payments. Visa Europe is a part owner of Visa International, the organisation that ensures global interoperability of products as well as management of the Visa brand.

In October 2006, Visa announced that it intends to restructure its entire worldwide organisation except Europe in order to create a new public global corporation called Visa Inc. As a part of this restructuring, Visa Europe will remain a membership association with an exclusive, irrevocable and perpetual license in Europe. Globally Visa is one of the world's leading payment brands and has unsurpassed acceptance at approximately 24 million acceptance locations including one million ATMs.

For more information, visit www.visaeurope.com

Gemalto
Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is a leader in digital security with pro forma 2006 annual revenues of €1.7 billion, operations in about 100 countries and over 10,000 employees including 1,500 R&D engineers. In a world where the digital revolution is increasingly transforming our lives, Gemalto's solutions are designed to make personal digital interactions more convenient, secure and enjoyable.

Gemalto provides end-to-end digital security solutions, from the development of software applications through design and production of secure personal devices such as smart cards, SIMs, e-passports, and tokens to the management of deployment services for its customers. More than a billion people worldwide use the company's products and services for telecommunications, financial services, e-government, identity management, multimedia content, digital rights management, IT security, mass transit and many other applications.

As the use of Gemalto's software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the company is poised to thrive over the coming years.

Gemalto was formed in June 2006 by the combination of Axalto and Gemplus.

For more information, please visit www.gemalto.com