AMSTERDAM & RIYADH, Saudi Arabia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, today announced it is delivering electronic ID cards to the National Information Center (NIC), the IT entity of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior. The Identification Card-Phase 2 program extends the country’s initial electronic ID initiative launched in December 2007. As part of the new contract, Gemalto provides NIC with e-ID cards for the next three years, as well as support and maintenance for the centralized personalization center in Riyadh. The national ID card is mandatory for all citizens above 15 and valid for ten years.

The Saudi Arabia national ID card is a wallet-sized card that embeds a microprocessor containing the cardholder’s digital information such as demographics, facial image and fingerprints. It also features a bar code and an optical stripe to ensure enhanced security to citizens. The national ID card can be used as a travel document that facilitates legitimate travel within all GCC countries. In addition, the e-ID card offers strong authentication to enable citizens to prove their identity. Digital signature is also available through a Public Key Infrastructure application.

In the first phase of the ID program, Gemalto delivered high-end e-ID cards and its Coesys Issuance personalization solution. Gemalto’s Coesys Issuance consists of the combination of software, hardware and integration services to enable NIC to personalize and issue the e-ID cards with the highest level of security. The company also installed the centralized card personalization system operated by NIC in Riyadh.

Gemalto’s references in e-ID programs include notably the following countries: Bahrain, Belgium, Finland, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Sweden and UAE. In addition, Taiwan has selected Gemalto’s digital security technology for its smart card-based resident card, the electronic Alien Resident Card (ARC).

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2008 annual revenues of €1.68 billion, and 10,000 employees operating out of 75 offices, research and service centers in 40 countries.

Gemalto is at the heart of our evolving digital society. The freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain, and work—anytime, anywhere—has become an integral part of what people want and expect, in ways that are convenient, enjoyable and secure.

Gemalto delivers on the growing demands of billions of people worldwide for mobile connectivity, identity and data protection, credit card safety, health and transportation services, e-government and national security. We do this by supplying to governments, wireless operators, banks and enterprises a wide range of secure personal devices, such as subscriber identification modules (SIM) in mobile phones, smart banking cards, smart card access badges, electronic passports, and USB tokens for online identity protection. To complete the solution we also provide software, systems and services to help our customers achieve their goals.

As the use of Gemalto’s software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the company is poised to thrive over the coming years.

For more information please visit www.gemalto.com.

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