Diebold has received EMV Level 2 certification for its automated teller machine (ATM) technology being deployed across Austria and Italy.
The company anticipates that Level 2 certification will be secured in France and Switzerland in the coming months.
Emilio Caligaris, EMEA EMV programme manager at Diebold, comments: "While EMV is creating a de facto standard for ATM interoperability, each territory adopting this technology has its own particular software requirements and must conform to the requirements of the ATM network and to national legislation governing banking industry practices."
The announcement follows worldwide EMV Level 2 certification achieved in April 2002 for the EMV Kernel with Smart Card Solution Set 1 software covering Diebold's i, ix and CashSource Plus 400 series ATMs.
Caligaris believes the interoperability of ATMs on both a national and continental level is likely to see the development of new applications ranging from financial products to government services.
He says: "It will be a number of years before the full impact of EMV is known but it could be one of the most significant developments ever seen in the ATM market."