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Gemalto is an international digital security company, providing secure personal devices such as smart cards and tokens in addition to software applications and managed services. The company was formed in June 2006 by the combination of two companies Axalto and Gemplus International. Gemalto’s 2010 revenue was €1.91 billion.^[1]

Governments, wireless operators, banks, and enterprises use Gemalto’s personal devices such as SIMs in mobile phones, smart bankcards, e-passports, identity credentials and USB tokens. In 2008, the company produced more than 1.4 billion personal security computing devices.^[2]

The company's customers include 400 mobile network operators, 300 financial institutions and more than 30 nations for identity programs like electronic passports, driver’s licenses and national identity cards.^[2]

Gemalto N.V. is a public company incorporated in the Netherlands. It is headquartered in Amsterdam, and has subsidiaries and group companies around the world. The U.S. headquarters is in Austin, Texas. Globally, Gemalto has 10,000 employees, 87 sales and marketing offices; 18 production sites, 30 personalization centers, and 13 R&D centers in 45 countries.^[1]

History[link]

In June 2006, smart card providers Axalto and Gemplus merged to become Gemalto. Axalto was a Schlumberger IPO spin-off in 2004. In April 2010, Gemalto completed the acquisition of internet banking security specialist Todos AB.^[3]

Axalto and Schlumberger[link]

Schlumberger began its chip card activities in February 1979 when it licensed and marketed certain chip card technologies developed and patented by Roland Moreno, who is generally credited with the invention of the chip card.^[4]

Schlumberger developed the first telephone chip cards for France Telecom and the Swedish telecommunications operator Telia in the early 1980s. The company developed long-standing and close ties with telecommunications operators around the world and, as a result, played a role in industry-wide efforts to develop new digital mobile communication standards, particularly the GSM transmission standard (Global System for Mobile Communication). Schlumberger designed its first SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card in the early 1990s for the launch of GSM in Europe, and this led to the use of microprocessor card technology as an access and security solution for mobile telephony worldwide, in 3 billion handsets today.^[5]

In the early 1980s, the French banking sector decided to migrate from the magnetic stripe card-based payment system to a more modern and secure microprocessor card-based system. Schlumberger received its first contract in June 1981 to provide GIE Cartes Bancaires, the French credit/debit card issuers’ association, with 5,000 microprocessor cards and 200 associated POS terminals. The microprocessor card-based payment system subsequently became standard in France and eventually led to a global standard known as EMV, set up by Europay, MasterCard and Visa.^[6] Today there are over 1 billion EMV cards in circulation <EMVCo>.

Schlumberger experienced strong internal and external growth since the launch of its chip card operations in the early 1980s through the 1990s and 2000s, both in terms of revenue and product portfolio, particularly with the substantial growth in GSM-based mobile telecommunications. Significant acquisitions of regional companies in card production and personalization included Cowells (United Kingdom), Malco (United States), Printer (Mexico) and Cardtech (Brazil). The acquisition of Solaic in 1996 and Bull-CP8 from Bull in 2001 allowed the company to strengthen its presence in the banking services in France and China.

In 2003, Schlumberger created Axalto as a division to consolidate into one company all of its card and POS terminal activities, which until then had been managed by several subsidiaries and joint ventures of the Schlumberger group. Subsequently Axalto was successfully listed on the Euronext Paris market on May 18, 2004.

Gemplus[link]

Founded by Marc Lassus (among others), Gemplus started its operations in 1988 as a supplier of prepaid phonecards. Because of its presence in the market of the prepaid phonecards during the 1990s, the company developed ties with the telecommunications industry along with Schlumberger.

Prior to 1999, the business was conducted through Gemplus S.C.A., a French limited partnership. In December 1999, Gemplus Associates, the general partner of Gemplus S.C.A., merged into Gemplus S.C.A., which became a joint stock company, Gemplus SA. In February 2000, the corporate structure was reorganized and a new holding company, Gemplus International SA, a Luxembourg corporation, was created. Texas Pacific Group became a shareholder of Gemplus at the time of its equity contribution in February 2000.

In December 2000, the company completed an initial public offering of its capital stock, in the form of ordinary shares traded on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris, and ADSs traded on the U.S. NASDAQ exchange. In 2004, the company completed the planned reorganization of its corporate structure by transferring most of the subsidiaries of Gemplus SA to Gemplus International SA.

In April 2005, Gemplus acquired Setec OY, a company headquartered in Finland that, among other things, supplies conventional and electronic travel passports to various government agencies and products involving secure printing.^[7]

Merger and Digital Security Vision[link]

In June 2006, smart card providers Axalto and Gemplus merged to become Gemalto. Gemalto Chairman Alex Mandl said of the merger, "Thanks to this merger, we have assembled the skills and the scale to fully serve three important markets: mobile telecom, secure transactions and security."^[2]

With the merger, the two former smart card companies set out to achieve a new, broader vision for Gemalto—to be the world’s leading digital security company. Gemalto CEO Olivier Piou explained the term "digital security" and Gemalto’s vision in a 2008 interview:

"Digital security has a key role to play in the ‘digital revolution’– a major trend already bringing huge benefits to developed countries, and being enthusiastically adopted by emerging nations. Yet fear of fraud, identity theft and other concerns are holding people back from making the most of these opportunities. They need to feel that the wealth of devices and services on offer are both convenient to use and trustworthy. So convenience and trust are at the core of our vision of digital security. Developments in all our key markets show how well received they are… We are continuously expanding the possibilities of secure digital technology with new services and new products, and winning meaningful contracts in all segments and geographies."^[2]

Corporate Structure[link]

Since 2006, Gemalto comprises three market-focused global divisions—Telecommunications, Secure Transactions and Security, as well as functional organizations for marketing; operations including both production and research and development; finance; human resources and legal.

Telecommunications[link]

Gemalto provides software solutions, Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs)and managed services to more than 700 million subscribers in the telecommunications market. Gemalto has more than 400 mobile telecom operator customers worldwide^[2]

In 2007, Gemalto organized the telecom business into four strategic lines: secure operated services, advanced products and data services, value-added products and service deployment, and SIM cards.^[2]

Innovation and new markets are an important focus of the company. In October, Gemalto won the 2007 Frost & Sullivan Product Innovation Award in the field of mobile contactless technologies for its Smart Card Web Server (SCWS).^[8]

Each year since 2000, Gemalto has organized the SIMagine contest, the Worldwide Mobile Communication & Java Card Developers Contest, aimed at stimulating innovations using SIM-based solutions. Sponsors include Samsung Semiconductor Europe and Sun Microsystems.^[9]

Near Field Communications (NFC) and Mobile Payment[link]

On October 30, 2008, RBC, Visa and Rogers Wireless jointly announced that they are working together on the next phase of the mobile phone payment pilot, testing secure over-the-air (OTA) delivery of mobile payment software and credit card information to a customer's mobile phone. The companies announced that Gemalto would provide this capability by acting as the Trusted Service Manager and securely bridging banking with mobile phones. Gemalto’s role is to manage the transfer of credit card information from RBC to the secure SIM card in the Rogers Wireless NFC-enabled mobile phone.^[10]

Gemalto has played the TSM role in several other NFC pilots around the world including France and Taiwan. In November 2007, Gemalto partnered with Taiwan’s Far EasTone Telecommunications Ltd. to start Asia’s first mobile contactless SIM-based NFC trial, as part of the GSM Association’s 'Pay-Buy Mobile' initiative.^[11]

Combination SIM/DVD[link]

In September 2008, Gemalto began providing Italian mobile operator WIND with its Smart Video Card, which embeds a DVD-compliant optical disc into the card body of a regular SIM card. Smart Video Card can store any digital content including video, software or Internet links and can be played on any DVD drive.^[12]

Mobile Signatures[link]

In November 2008, Turkcell, a mobile operator in Turkey, began using Gemalto’s SIM-based mobile signature solution. The solution allows the 30 million Turkcell subscribers to access services that require strong authentication, such as internet banking or e-government applications, while using their mobile phones to generate a legally binding electronic signature.^[13]

Deploying 3G services[link]

China Mobile chose Gemalto, in February 2008, to provide SIM cards for the first large-scale multimedia SIM commercial deployment in Asia. The project is taking place in Guangdong, Shanxi, Beijing, Jiangsu and Shanghai provinces.^[14]

Mobile TV[link]

In September 2008, Gemalto began work with the Open Mobile Alliance Smart Card Profile compliant mobile TV consumer trial in Singapore, providing mobile TV SIM cards and viewership measurement services.^[15]

Secure Transactions[link]

Gemalto supplies contact and contactless cards, EMV chip cards, payment terminals, and user authentication solutions for secure online banking.

According to the Nilson Report (November 2007), Gemalto is a world leader in technologies and services for securing transactions, with 15% market share in payment cards.

Gemalto delivered 230 million microprocessor cards for secure transactions in 2007.^[2]

According to the Nilson report, Gemalto is the number one provider of chip cards, selling 1.5 billion chip cards, representing 49 percent of the market.^[2] At the start of 2010 in Germany 20 million ATM cards and 3.5 million credit cards are hit by an end-of-the-decade programming glitch which prevented them working.^[16]

Gemalto’s customers include 300 of the world’s banks.^[2]

Gemalto worldwide banking and retail customers include Abbey U.K, ABN- AMRO Netherlands, Atkia, Finland, American Express, Banque Accord France, Accord Italia Italia Caisse d'Epargne France, La Caixa Spain, Crédit Agricolel (France), Diners Club Croatia, Findomestic Italy, Fortis Belgium. Hansabank Estonia, HBOS UK, HSBC UK, ING Belgium, JCB, National Bank of Greece, OpBank, Parex Bank (Latvia), Sampo (Finland), Société Générale, Agip France, Arena Netherlands, BMW, B.P., Esso, Sodexho, and Total France.^[17]

EMV in Turkey[link]

In September 2008, Garanti Bank in Turkey began rolling out 300,000 Gemalto EMV contactless bankcards.^[18]

Instant Issuance[link]

As of November 2008, Gemalto’s Instant Issuance solution has been installed in over 300 shopping malls worldwide, enabling one million credit cards to be issued on-the-spot per year.^[19]

CardLikeMe[link]

In July 2008, Gemalto began providing its CardLikeMe service to PlasticNow in Canada, giving consumers the ability to customize their card with the photo of their choice.^[20]

eBanking and eCommerce Security[link]

Following its acquisition of Swedish security firm Todos AB in April 2008,^[21] Gemalto eBanking provides a range of eBanking and eCommerce security solutions under the Ezio brand name.^[22] The Ezio Suite includes:

• The Ezio Server^[23] that supports multiple authentication techniques, including^[23] two-factor authentication, one-time passwords, challenge-response, dynamic signatures^[24] and sign-what-you-see.^[24]
• Authentication devices including smart card readers and tokens^[25]
• Mobile phone authentication using SIM, apps or SMS^[25]

Gemalto eBanking supports the Ezio Suite with a range of services including implementation, security audit, design and consulting, training, fulfilment and support.^[26]

Ezio technology is in use in banks such as ABN AMRO, Barclays and Nordea.^[27]

Barclays[link]

As of July 2008, more than one million Barclays customers are using Gemalto’s cryptographic smart card reader, called PINsentry by Barclays for strong authentication for online banking.^[28]

Underbanked[link]

In June 2007, The Financial Information Network & Operations Ltd. (FINO) in India began deploying Gemalto smart cards with biometric authentication. to enable microbanking and the underbanked population in rural India.^[29]

Security, Public Sector (e-Government)[link]

Gemalto provides technology to governments in more than 30 nations.^[2]

e-Passports[link]

Gemalto supplies electronic passports (e-passports) solutions to the United States, Singapore, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, India, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Qatar, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden and Turkey.^[30]

As of March 2007, Gemalto has provided technology to more than 10 million e-passports,^[2] earning the company recognition from Keesing Journal of Documents and Identity as the number one provider of e-passport solutions with an estimated 30 percent market share.^[31]

In the United States, Gemalto is one of just two vendors picked by the Government Printing Office to supply their e-passport program and delivered significant quantities in 2007.^[2]

e-Driver’s Licenses[link]

Mexico’s licensing authority (ICV) used Gemalto’s smart card platform to issue the first e-driver’s licenses to the to the city of Monterrey, Nuevo León state, Mexico in 2007. Gemalto expects to deliver more than 900,000 licenses to ICV over a three-year period.^[32] Gemalto secured a new contract to supply electronic card driver’s license to three additional Mexican states in April 2008.^[33]

In December 2007, Gemalto began supplying Sweden with e-driver’s licenses that contain a transparent window in the pure polycarbonate structure for enhanced physical security. Gemalto will supply Sweden with 600,000 e-driver’s licenses per year for three years.^[34]

e-ID Citizen Cards[link]

In February 2007, the Portuguese Mint and National Printing Office (INCM) picked Gemalto to provide their national e-ID Citizen Card. Gemalto provides the operating system, the personalization system and applications, the middleware and associated helpdesk services. All Portuguese citizens will ultimately carry these cards as their national ID document.^[35]

e-Healthcare Cards[link]

In September 2007, Gemalto delivered its 100 millionth e-healthcare card.^[2] Gemalto has delivered e-healthcare cards in Algeria, Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany Mexico, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.^[2]

In July, Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse (AOK), a Germany health insurer, also picked Gemalto to supply and personalize 35 million e-health insurance cards. The cards contain emergency data such as blood group, allergy alerts and ongoing treatments, and e-prescriptions.^[36]

e-Government ID[link]

As of December 2009, Gemalto has provided 25 million Common Access Cards to the U.S. Department of Defense for employee and contractor use.^[37]

Transportation[link]

Gemalto has provided contactless payment technology to transport projects around the world, including a nationwide project in the Netherlands and citywide projects in Boston, Paris, London, São Paulo and Santiago.^[38]

Gemalto has delivered more than 100 million transit cards globally.^[38]

Security, Enterprise[link]

Gemalto supplies its enterprise solutions through Value-Added Resellers (VARs) and systems integrators.^[2] The company’s enterprise customers include Barclays, Shell, Chevron, Pfizer, Boeing, Telia Sonera, Schlumberger and Microsoft.^[39]

In April 2008, Alternative Technology began offering Gemalto’s on-demand Device Administration Service (DAS) through its network of 3,000 resellers in the United States and Canada.^[40]

In April 2008, Envoy Data Corporation [1] began offering Gemalto’s on-demand Device Administration Service (DAS) through its network of IT security specialized VARs.^[41]

Pfizer[link]

At Pfizer, 100,000 employees use Gemalto smart cards as badges.^[42]

Virchow Krause[link]

In July 2008, Gemalto began deploying Protiva .NET Dual tokens at Virchow Krause & Company LLP (VK), the 15th largest accounting firm in the United States.^[43]

Microsoft Partnership[link]

Microsoft employees worldwide use Gemalto .NET smart card technology embedded in their corporate badge to enable access to Microsoft’s own information systems.^[44]

In June 2008, Gemalto announced that Instant Badge Issuance (IBI), a solution that works directly with Microsoft Active Directory and Identity Lifecycle Manager (ILM) to load digital certificates directly onto the smart card.^[45]

At Microsoft’s "Heroes Happen Here" event in February 2008, Gemalto and Microsoft demonstrated the only .NET smart card technology with support built into Microsoft Windows Server 2008.^[46]

In November 2007, Gemalto made its .NET smart card, Protiva Strong Authentication Server and related Protiva credential devices, and other Windows Smart Card Framework-compatible products available for live simulation at the Microsoft Partner Solutions Center on Microsoft Corp.’s Redmond, Wash., campus.^[47]

In November 2007, Gemalto attained Gold Certified Partner status in the Microsoft Partner Program.^[48]

In 2006, Gemalto organized a Microsoft-sponsored contest, SecureTheWeb, for the best new development in secure personal devices for Web services, such as smart cards and one time passwords (OTPs).^[49]

Citrix Systems Partnership[link]

In December 2007, Gemalto announced that its Protiva platform were recognized by Citrix Systems as compatible with the Citrix Access Gateway.^[50] This followed a previous announcement earlier in January 2007 that Gemalto’s .NET and Protiva solutions were recognized by Citrix Systems as compatible with its products.^[51]

In January 2007, Gemalto was named a finalist for 2006 Solution Partner of the Year by Citrix Systems.^[52]

Verisign[link]

In February 2007, Gemalto announced that its Network Identity Manager (NIM) for online security would support the VeriSign Identity Protection (VIP) Network.^[53]

Awards for Enterprise Products[link]

In September 2008, Gemalto’s Smart Enterprise Guardian (SEG) was named the "Best Personal Portable Security Device" by Network Products Guide.^[54]

In September 2007, Gemalto’s Live Provisioning it was named by Info Security Products Guide as the double winner of Tomorrow’s Technology Today Awards 2007, in both the Mid-Size Enterprise Security and Two-Factor Solution categories.^[55]

Gemalto was named a "Hot Company" for 2007 by Info Security Products Guide.^[56]

In May 2008, Gemalto received the 2008 Tomorrow’s Technology Today Award for its Smart Enterprise Guardian (SEG), in the Personal Portable Security Devices (PPSD) category.^[57]

In 2011, Gemalto was honored as "2011 Industry Company of the Year" granted by L’Usine Nouvelle.^[58]

Corporate officers[link]

^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Gemalto Developer Network

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