Thales today announced that Crédit Coopératif has chosen Thales to equip its headquarters in Nanterre with a smart card system which combines both software security to control access to PCs and physical security to control access throughout the site.
The single contact/contactless smart card, named 'tri-techno', will allow employees at Crédit Coopératif's headquarters to log onto their workstations (1,000 workstations will be equipped in this way with the MiniCita smart card), pass security gates upon entering and leaving the building and clock in and out. The badge will also enable employees to access the company restaurant and pay for their meals.
Through Thales's access control technology, the tri-techno card has MIFARE contactless smartcard technology and can read ISO2 tracks.
Philippe Bossut, network systems manager at Crédit Coopératif, said: "As a major bank, Crédit Coopératif already has a physical security system in place but we wanted to extend these security services to our employees. Our employees will benefit from ease-of-use and will soon become accustomed to using the security system within existing company procedures."
Bertrand Hanicotte, sales director at Thales e-Security, said: "The system implemented at Crédit Coopératif demonstrates the possibilities that a smart card system offers in terms of identification and authentication. The security needs of companies at all levels are becoming more and more strategic and this type of solution responds perfectly to these demands."
Thales has worked with Crédit Coopératif in the past when the company was chosen in 2005 to equip the workstations of Crédit Coopératif's 80 branches with the MiniCita security solution for user authentication. This system now works from a smart card inserted in Dell keyboards equipped with an integrated card reader. MiniCita allows users to both secure access to workstations and to protect the data that they contain.