“According to figures published by ABECS in 2007 (Brazilian Association of Credit Cards and Services Companies), there are approximately 280 million banking debit and credit cards currently in circulation, plus 116 million retail store credit cards” comments Luis Cohen, commercial director for the Gemalto Finance sector in Latin America. “With the migration to more capable intelligent secure personal devices, we clearly have a huge potential here in Brazil and in the whole region”. Gemalto chose Brazil for the installation of this new Personalization Service Center because of the strong demand created by the local market. Out of the 280 million banking cards in circulation in Brazil, more than 20 million have already been upgraded to contain a secure microprocessor chip. More cards are also issued in this Financial Services segment every year: debit and credit cards increased in volume by an average annual growth of respectively 21 percent and 15 percent according to the ABECS 2007 survey. “In order to continue to serve the need for production and development of high-end technology in Brazil, Gemalto has installed its new center with an initial capacity to personalize smart cards in line with current demand” says José Luiz Pellegrini, manufacturing director of Gemalto. “However the current capacity may be increased very quickly if there is an increase in demand”. Gemalto expects the demand for microprocessor cards in the Public Sector to increase in the next couple of years, as the substitution of paper documents to more secure solutions progresses. This trend is mainly driven by losses incurred by false identification. In the UK for example, according to a study from the Home Office Identity Fraud Steering Committee, the losses to the British economy related to ID fraud amount to around £1.7 billion (R$ 7.6 billion) per year. In Brazil, it is estimated that falsification of ID cards is responsible for 72% of all finance and commercial institutions fraud schemes (source: Polícia Civil do Distrito Federal). emmanuelle.saby@gemalto.com www.gemalto.com