Singapore / Paderborn, June 2005 – ORGA Singapore is supplying the first EMV MasterCard chip card to the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI). BPl launched the BPI Express Credit Gold Card program for privileged customers. Crucial factors for the bank are not only enhanced customer service, but also security – an issue that is growing increasingly important, especially in light of international payment transactions. BPI is also planning to convert already issued magnetic stripe cards to EMV (Europay, MasterCard Visa) smart cards. Holders of the BPI Express Credit Gold MasterCard will get an exclusive package of advantages with special service and profit from lower charges for card payments abroad, travel insurance, special discounts and bonus programs in retailing, travel and entertainment. The BPI Express Credit Gold MasterCard is based on the open operating system MULTOS 4.06 from MasterCard, which is distinguished by outstanding security and multifunctionality. The smart card was issued as part of the global OneSMART MasterCard program that accompanies the successful rollout of smart cards. "We are proud to have introduced the first EMV credit card in the Philippines so far ahead of the rest of the market, making us the technology leader in this region. We were impressed by the security features and multifunctionality of the chip technology, which we plan to make available to our customers", says Teresita B. Tan, Senior Vice President, BPI. "In introducing the BPI EMV MasterCard chip cards, the Bank of the Philippine Islands is setting a decisive and secure milestone on the way toward the global EMV standard", says Silvio Stockmann, Head of the Banking unit at ORGA. The new smart card meets the EMV specifications, an industry standard jointly defined by Europay, MasterCard and Visa. This standard ensures worldwide interoperability in all debit and credit card transactions. Bank of the Philippine Islands
Bank of the Philippine Islands, with 153 years of banking leadership and innovation boasts of having the largest combined network of over 700 branches and over 1,200 automated teller machines servicing over 3 million depositors and debit/credit cardholders. For years, international publications and rating agencies have given annual awards to BPI as one of the best banks in the region. Among those are the Far Eastern Economic Review, The Banker, EuroMoney, AsiaMoney, Business Week, The Asset, Global Finance, Finance Asia, and The Asian Banker.
www.bpiexpressonline.com MasterCard International
MasterCard International is a leading global payments solutions company that provides a broad variety of innovative services in support of our global members’ credit, deposit access, electronic cash, business-to-business and related payment programs. MasterCard International manages a family of well-known, widely accepted payment cards brands including MasterCard®, Maestro® and Cirrus® and serves financial institutions, consumers and businesses in over 210 countries and territories. Worldwide, MasterCard has over 225 million smart cards as of end of 2004. Of this figure, over 31 million are in Asia Pacific, contributing more than 82% growth year-on-year. Over 90% of these are EMV-compliant smart cards.
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