“Gemalto is dedicated to working with transit agencies to modernize systems to accept secure, personal smart payment cards,” said Ernie Berger, president of Gemalto North America. “We are proud to be working with the MBTA on a program that utilizes our proven technology to raise the bar for efficiency and convenience within public transportation.” With CharlieCards, Massachusetts commuters no longer need to use paper tickets to ride the MBTA’s bus and subway system. Instead, they simply hold the CharlieCard close to a reader that instantly deducts the fare from the card or validates their time-based pass, allowing them quick and easy entry to subways and buses. By the end of this March, Gemalto will have successfully delivered 2.4 million secure contactless transit devices specified for the CharlieCard program to the MBTA. Because the cards were delivered fully encoded by Gemalto, the MBTA was able to distribute the cards immediately without having to be processed through the MBTA’s smart card encoding equipment. Available in January 2007, the CharlieCard is a contactless card used for stored value or time-based pass electronic ticketing as part of the Automated Fare Collection (AFC) system being installed by the MBTA at its stations and on its vehicles. The card is easy to use – travelers simply hold cards close to readers to quickly gain entry to a subway or bus. The information passed between the Gemalto device and the card reader is encrypted for the privacy and security of the user. CharlieCards can be reused over time; users can „“add““ stored value and passes to cards at fare vending machines, fareboxes, MBTA ticket offices and eventually online. dmontner@montner.com www.gemalto.com