Gemalto gets Visa, MasterCard certification for global banking card in Saudi Arabia

• 15 Jul 2009

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Gemalto has announced that its Optelio banking card has been certified to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency requirements.

According to a news release, Optelio is suited for the local market, as it hosts the Saudi Payments Network application, the debit card functionality deployed in Saudi Arabia. The Gemalto product also is compatible with the GlobalPlatform specifications (the standard for smart card infrastructure), the Visa Electron and the Debit MasterCard and Maestro Card requirements, making it usable worldwide.

Those certifications enable Gemalto to complete its existing Multos offer for the Saudi Arabian banking market, the largest in the Gulf Region with more than 10 million debit cards in use, and to support local financial institutions in their EMV migrations.  Optelio lets dual-issuer banks deliver either Visa's VSDC or MasterCard's M/Chip applications on the same product.

"We are proud to offer this innovative and secure payment solution to Saudi Arabia," said Philippe Cambriel, executive vice president of Gemalto’s secure transactions business unit. "These certifications confirm that Gemalto has the widest portfolio in the industry, covering all applications and technology platforms."