SINGAPORE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Gone are the days where cash was king in China. According to China
Tech Insights’ report last year, 74 percent of Chinese consumers
said they could live for more than a month with only 100 RMB (which is
less than US$15) in cash. To address this growing hunger for a swift and
convenient payments, ICBC, the largest bank in China, has awarded
Gemalto a three-year agreement to continue supplying contactless cards.
The contract addresses multiple card schemes-branded cards including
Amex, China UnionPay, JCB, Mastercard and Visa.

Chinese consumers are increasingly turning to digital payment methods.
According to the China
Banking Association, China had over seven billion bank cards in
circulation by the end of 2017. With the government’s strong push for
POS upgrade in the past years, China’s contactless
payments market, particularly in the credit card segment, is set to
grow. Statistics show that there are over 31 million POS terminals
installed in China¹, with the majority compatible with
contactless transactions.

Built on Gemalto’s solutions, ICBC’s dual-interface cards (both
contactless and chip) enable consumers to make payments by inserting
them into point-of-sale (POS) terminals or tapping them against
contactless-enabled payment terminals. The latter presents a huge value
to consumers as it is intuitive and can shorten
the checkout time by 63 percent as compared to cash transactions.

ICBC’s cards follow the security of global EMV
standards. They leverage Gemalto’s smart chip not only to secure
cardholders’ credentials, but also encrypt its communication with the
POS terminals and processing networks.

“As the digital security leader, Gemalto has been partnering with ICBC
for almost 20 years. Our solutions, which are at the heart of modern
life from payment to enterprise security, are helping to support ICBC’s
global business expansion strategy and accelerate China’s cashless
revolution,” said Michael Au, senior vice president Banking and Payment
APAC for Gemalto.

“Dual interface payment cards will allow consumers to pay faster,
without compromising security. Since these cards can help improve
operational efficiency and security, we also hope this effort will
encourage local merchants to adopt EMV chip and contactless-enabled POS.”

As China continues its chip card migration, card schemes such as China
UnionPay, Mastercard and Visa are quickly adding contactless
capabilities to their card base, resulting in the country having the
largest dual interface market, in terms of annual volume².

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the global leader in digital
security, with 2017 annual revenues of €3 billion and customers in
over 180 countries. We bring trust to an increasingly connected world.

From secure software to biometrics and encryption, our technologies and
services enable businesses and governments to authenticate identities
and protect data so they stay safe and enable services in personal
devices, connected objects, the cloud and in between.

Gemalto’s solutions are at the heart of modern life, from payment to
enterprise security and the internet of things. We authenticate people,
transactions and objects, encrypt data and create value for software –
enabling our clients to deliver secure digital services for billions of
individuals and things.

Our 15,000 employees operate out of 114 offices, 40 personalization and
data centers, and 35 research and software development centers located
in 47 countries.

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

¹ Source : Report on Development of China’s Bankcard
Industry, Edition 2018
² Source: Market Update of
Payment & Banking Card Technologies, ABI Research

Contacts

Gemalto media:
Tauri Cox
North America
+1 512 257
3916
tauri.cox@gemalto.com

Sophie Dombres
Europe Middle East & Africa
+33 4 42 36 57
38
sophie.dombres@gemalto.com

Piyush Prakash
Asia Pacific
+91 11 6623 1200
piyush.prakash@gemalto.com

Alexis Camarillo
Latin America
+52 5521223627
alexis.camarillo@gemalto.com