AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, announces that it will supply prepaid EMV payment cards to Mobile Financial Services (MFS), the joint venture formed by Telefónica and MasterCard Worldwide. The launch is part of “Zuum”, a new payment service offered by Telefónica’s Vivo brand which aims to provide financial inclusion for the unbanked population of Brazil. Gemalto will also provide MFS with all the personalization services associated with EMV prepaid cards as well as tamper evident packaging and fulfillment to point-of-sale. With Vivo’s huge coverage of over 90% of the Brazilian population, the service offers widespread accessibility for the vast majority of consumers.

Nearly 40 percent of Brazilians currently do not use banking services¹. With “Zuum”, Telefónica’s Vivo customers will be able to set up a pre-paid account which can be accessed either through their mobile phone or a regular prepaid EMV MasterCard payment card, provided by Gemalto. “Zuum” will allow people to make secure, convenient financial transactions including peer-to-peer money transfers, merchant purchases, ATM cash withdrawal, bill payment, airtime top-ups and more. Cash can be transferred easily at mobile phone refill stations, supermarkets and newspaper stands. The physical card provided by Gemalto can be used to make purchases in Brazil at over 1.8 million EMV-enabled merchants and to withdraw money in ATMs.

“We relied on Gemalto to help us quickly launch the first of several innovative solutions that will allow mobile subscribers with or without bank accounts to make secure payment and money transfers conveniently with pre-paid m-payment services,” said Marcos Etchegoyen, president of MFS. “Our goal is to promote financial inclusion for unbanked Brazilians and to extend secure payments via mobile devices to all consumers who seek alternative payment services with the lowest possible cost."

“Gemalto has been a major provider of secure payment cards and personalization services since the beginning of EMV migration in Latin America, with a strongly differentiated offer in Brazil, so we had the expertise to support MFS in achieving its ambitious financial services goals,” said Eric Megret-Dorne, Senior Vice President of Secure Transactions at Gemalto Latin America. “The prepaid segment is advancing new business frontiers and the MFS project is in keeping with the trend towards the issuance of payment cards by a wide diversity of players.”

¹ IPEA – Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada/Institute for Applied Economic
http://www.ipea.gov.br/portal/images/stories/PDFs/SIPS/110112_sips_bancos.pdf

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2012 annual revenues of €2.2 billion and more than 10,000 employees operating out of 83 offices and 13 Research & Development centers, located in 43 countries.

We are at the heart of the rapidly evolving digital society. Billions of people worldwide increasingly want the freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain and work – anytime, everywhere – in ways that are enjoyable and safe. Gemalto delivers on their expanding needs for personal mobile services, payment security, authenticated cloud access, identity and privacy protection, eHealthcare and eGovernment efficiency, convenient ticketing and dependable machine-to-machine (M2M) applications. We develop secure embedded software and secure products which we design and personalize. Our platforms and services manage these products, the confidential data they contain and the trusted end-user services made possible.

Our innovations enable our clients to offer trusted and convenient digital services to billions of individuals. Gemalto thrives with the growing number of people using its solutions to interact with the digital and wireless world.

For more information visit www.gemalto.com, www.justaskgemalto.com, blog.gemalto.com, or follow @gemalto on Twitter.