Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) has won a three year contract with Germany's Commerzbank that will see it act as the sole supplier of credit and debit cards to the bank.
Under the contract, G&D says it expects to supply several million cards to the bank. As well as issuing under its own name, Commerzbank provides co-branded offerings with firms such as Steigenberger, TUI, Robinson and Advocard.
The debit cards will be based on Seccos 6.1, the latest version of the Secure Chip Card Operating System, in accordance with German Central Banking Committee specifications.
Seccos-based cards provide a platform for various applications, including EMV debit girocards, MasterCard's Maestro, Visa's V-Pay and EMV credit cards.
The chip can also be used for electronic signatures, to generate transaction numbers for home banking and online shopping, as a source of electronic cash and to implement age restrictions for cash dispensers and on the Internet.
Axel Deininger, head, payment division, G&D, says: "This exclusive contract from Commerzbank represents an important milestone in the German banking industry's migration to Seccos."
Commerzbank has worked with G&D for several years and recently tapped the vendor for a series of scented credit cards that emit a fragrance of coffee, orange or cinnamon.