CARD PROVIDERS TO BENEFIT FROM LAUNCH OF GLOBALPLATFORM CARD COMPLIANCE PROGRAM

NEW ORLEANS, 22 April 2002 -- GlobalPlatform, the international smart card organisation, in conjunction with ICC Solutions, announces the delivery of the first phase of its Card Compliance Program - a kit consisting of procedures and testing components which provide the processes and tools necessary to verify a smart card's functional compliance to aspects of the GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.1. The core components of the Program, including test plan, test suite, test tool and supporting documentation will be available to both Members and non-Members from 1 May 2002.

The Card Compliance Program enables a reduction in the need for proprietary testing of new smart card products for compliance to the latest GlobalPlatform Card Specification. This will lead to cost and time reductions for card manufacturers, issuers and other parties wanting to confirm a product's compliance to the GlobalPlatform standard.

This standardised compliance platform will also lead to the facilitated design, faster development and automated verification of smart card products. It will do this by providing a widely accepted, standardised testing base - which identifies and classifies mandatory and optional functions of GlobalPlatform compliant products - to allow product providers to self-test, and issuers to verify, functional compliance to the GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.1. The Card Compliance Program will give essential information about the specification and how the functionality of a product can be tested to show that it behaves in accordance with it.

By providing the necessary tools to check functionality during development, the Card Compliance Program will allow errors to be detected and corrected early and will continue to facilitate easier and faster testing of a product for functional compliance at all stages of its lifecycle. Incremental testing will be undertaken only if it is needed to support specific implementation of cards developed to the GlobalPlatform Specification.

While the initial focus of the Card Compliance Program is the GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.1, the Compliance Program will evolve to support subsequent versions of the GlobalPlatform Card Specification. The Card Compliance Program will also serve as the basis and precedent for a broader compliance program from GlobalPlatform that will span cards, devices and systems.

Marc Kekicheff, GlobalPlatform Technical Director and Chair of the organisation's Card Committee, comments: "The development of the Card Compliance Program is a significant milestone for GlobalPlatform, as we can now offer another dimension to the GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.1 launched last year and expedite the development and implementation of smart cards based on this specification. Compliance also represents the final step in GlobalPlatform's technical development process.

"In addition, by providing the tool kit that allows product providers to self-test for GlobalPlatform compliance, we are offering a very real business benefit to organisations who choose to utilise this product. By reducing the need for iterative testing by external laboratories and speeding up the product design and development process, the Card Compliance Program will directly impact on the organisation's bottom line."

GlobalPlatform's Card Committee worked in conjunction with ICC Solutions to develop and implement the core components of the GlobalPlatform Card Compliance Program. The test suite itself was verified using a card simulator developed by Trusted Logic.

Dave Maisey, Managing Director at ICC Solutions comments: "ICC Solutions is thrilled to be playing a key part in establishing an open smart card technology infrastructure with global smart card standards. We regard this GlobalPlatform Card Compliance Program as a timely contribution to the industry as the demand increases for multi-application smart cards throughout the globe. Totally aligned with our fundamental business philosophy, we will be firmly committed to the successful deployment, support and further evolution of GlobalPlatform's high-quality and comprehensive Card Compliance Program."

Dominique Bolignano, President and CEO of Trusted Logic, adds: "We are proud that GlobalPlatform elected our card simulator to validate the test suite. Having two independent companies confront and cross-debug their implementations is an ideal way of gaining maximum confidence in both the test suite and the simulator, which in the end benefits GlobalPlatform. It has been a treat to work in conjunction with ICC Solutions and GlobalPlatform and we intend to pursue this collaboration by joining the consortium."

Work began on the Card Compliance Program in the first quarter of 2001, just before the release of the GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.1at CT/ST 2001. A Working Group of the Card Committee developed and implemented the program.

Notes to editors

The Card Compliance Program consists of:

* Documentation:
-- Card Compliance Packages defining the mandatory and optional functionality of the GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.1.
-- Card Compliance manual describing the procedures and processes for licensing the Program components.
* GlobalPlatform Card Test Plan - a detailed specification.
* GlobalPlatform Test Suite - a suite of test scripts.
* ICC Solutions Test Tools and Test Environment to execute the Test Suite.
* Web site extensions providing:
-- Information on Card Compliance Program and relevant forms.
-- Registry of card products claiming compliance to GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.1.
-- License and download for Test Plan to GlobalPlatform Members
-- Links to ICC Solutions to allow for information on and licensing of its test tool products and GlobalPlatform Test Plan and Test Suite.
-- Links to Trusted Logic to allow for information on and licensing its products, including a simulator of the GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.1.