Mondex Phils buys 500,000 smart cards

MasterCard International has acquired 500,000 smart cards. It is the largest single purchase of the competitively-priced MULTOS-based chip card by Mondex Philippines, its subsidiary.

Last December, MasterCard initiated a tie-up with Keycorp, the Australian smart card provider, to introduce the most competitively priced multi-application smart card in the market today. It has rolled out 31 million chip-based cards by the end of 2000 and expects 10 million of these cards to be avaibale in Asia/Pacific by 2003.

The Mondex Philippines purchase is expected to be followed by similar announcements from major financial institutions across the region in the coming weeks.

"We’re only four months into 2001 and MasterCard has already chalked up two significant advances in the smart card arena. The Mondex Philippines development follows February’s launch in Korea of the first smart cards in the world supporting both Mondex Electronic Cash and MasterCard’s M/Chip™ Credit applications. Since its launch in November last year, Mondex Philippines has hit the ground running. The company was very swift in seizing opportunities in the Philippines and has made tremendous progress expanding the acceptance of smart cards domestically" said Jeff Portelli, MasterCard International Senior Vice President, Product Delivery, Asia/Pacific.

Benjie Fernandez, president of Mondex Philippines, said that it indicates their optimism about the Mondex Card’s acceptability in the local market. "We are very pleased that our aggressive efforts are already resulting in many exciting developments."

Mondex Philippines was launched in October 2000 to promote and sub-license the technology to financial institutions, merchant establishments and other service providers.

In the Philippines, the Mondex card is set to become the country’s first all-in-one card. Plans are underway to incorporate numerous applications on the card, including: ID (identification), security and access for schools/government offices/private firms and loyalty programs. By 2003, Mondex Philippines expects to have 800,000 cardholders with access to 500 top-up stations and more than 25,000 terminals within Metro Manila alone.

In Korea, MasterCard International and Kookmin Card Co. launched February the first smart cards in the world to have both the Mondex Electronic Cash and M/Chip (MasterCard’s credit/debit application for chip) function.

The Kookmin Trade Pass cards have credit, debit and Mondex e-cash functions, allowing cardholders to choose the payment program they wish for specific financial transaction. Kookmin Card Co. was the first financial institution in the world to have both the Mondex purse and the M/Chip on all its new cards.

MasterCard International has the most comprehensive portfolio of payment brands in the world. More than 1.7 billion MasterCard, Cirrus and Maestro logos are present on credit, charge and debit cards in circulation today.

An association comprised of more than 20,000 member financial institutions, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses, both large and small in 210 countries and territories.