ESPOO, Finland, Jan. 7, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The first Visa smart card in the Baltics has been issued by Latvian bank Hansabanka with technical support of TietoEnator (Other OTC:TTNTF). TietoEnator Financial Solutions SIA supplied the software, Transmaster for this project. For TietoEnator this sets the next milestone in the provision of EMV standard smart card processing infrastructure to the European banking sector. The first chip card purchase in the Baltic states was processed by the Trasmaster system in September 2001, and several smart card issuing projects were initiated in Baltic banks during 2002.
"Due to issuance of chip cards, Hansabanka is acknowledged as the most technologically advanced bank in Latvia, which can compete not only with banks in the Baltics, but also with commercial institutions in Central and Eastern Europe," said Ugis Zemturis, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Hansabanka. "Complete support of EMV smart card issuing and acquiring is one of the key features of the Transmaster system. This allows TietoEnator to assist banks to migrate to chip cards and to provide their customers with increased payment security and new services. And furthermore, to keep pace with international requirements," added Maris Ozolins, Senior Vice President, TietoEnator Banking & Finance.
The expertise of TietoEnator was recognised internationally in 2001 when Visa selected TietoEnator as one of its Visa CEMEA Chip Migration Partners for the changeover of Visa payment cards to EMV chip standard in the region of Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Additional information:
Maris Ozolins, Senior Vice President TietoEnator Banking & Finance tel. +371 7286660
With 12,000 employees and annual net sales of EUR 1.1 billion, TietoEnator is a leading supplier of high value-added IT services in Europe. TietoEnator specialises in consulting, building and hosting its customers' business operations in the digital economy. The Group's services are based on a combination of deep industry-specific expertise and latest information technology. www.tietoenator.com
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