Axalto provides Vakifbank with one-stop shop for security solutions
27 February, 2006
category: Corporate, Digital ID, Financial
A Turkish bank has chosen a “one-stop” solution from Axalto, using the Netherlands-based company to provide not only its EMV-compliant credit cards, but also its employee badges that will regulate physical and logical access to the bank and its network.
Delivers EMV technology to top-tier Turkish bank and secures access to its corporate assets
Amsterdam, The Netherlands–Axalto, the world’s leader in microprocessor cards, announced it is providing Vakifbank, Turkey’s largest card issuer, with a complete EMV (Europay MasterCard Visa) package including data preparation, multi-application cards supply and a turnkey personalization solution.
Vakifbank also selected Axalto for a second project -providing its personnel with advanced corporate badges to ensure identification and secure access to its networks and premises – using Axalto as a “one-stop shop” for security solutions. For Vakifbank, working with one single company simplified the implementation process and saved time on both projects. The issuance of EMV cards and corporate badges started last December.
In migrating to the EMV standard, Vakifbank provides its customers with better protection against fraud. For the cardholder, this enhanced security level increases confidence in using the card as a means of payment, especially when traveling abroad. Furthermore, the greater speed of offline transactions performed with EMV cards affords Vakifbank customers more convenience.
The Axalto badge solution combines logical and physical access. It guarantees secure access to the bank’s internal networks and applications through advanced cryptographic features included in the card chip software, and also features a contactless interface enabling physical access control to buildings and secure areas. With this really convenient solution, Vakifbank’s employees need only one card to access their buildings, park their cars, and log on to their networks.
“Axalto has been a major driver behind our highly successful roll-out of EMV-compliant banking cards,” said a Vakifbank pokesperson. “Also, the local team provided excellent support in the deployment of the corporate badge, which will be issued to all Vakifbank personnel by the end of the first quarter this year.”
Philippe Cambriel, president EMEA, Axalto, added: “This success reinforces Axalto’s positioning as a reliable business partner for banks willing to offer increased security and simplicity, in both payments and the fields of access control and IT security.”
About Axalto
Axalto is the world’s leading provider of microprocessor cards (Gartner 2005, Frost & Sullivan 2004) – the key to digital networks – and a major supplier of point-of-sale terminals. Its 4500 employees come from over 65 nationalities and serve customers in more than 100 countries, with worldwide sales exceeding 3 billion smart cards to date. The company has 25 years’ experience in smart card innovation and leads its industry in security technology and open systems.
Axalto 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. Microprocessor cards provide convenience, security and privacy to public and private services operators, their customers and end users. For more info, please visit www.axalto.com.
About Vakifbank
Established in 1954, Vakifbank was the fifth largest bank in Turkey by total assets at end-H105. Vakifbank with an asset size of $ 22 Billion as of 3rdQ05 provides corporate, commercial, retail and investment-banking services through its network of 294 branches, four finance centers and five mobile branches distributed throughout Turkey. Vakifbank’s IPO of 25.18% was succesfully launched in November 2005, resulting in an approximate market capitalization of $5.1 billion at the first day of listing. The $1.28 billion listing represents one of the largest listings in the emerging market banking sector this year.