Source: Sagem Orga
Another official certification has again underscored Sagem Orga's leading position in security technology.
Germany's ZKA (Zentraler Kreditausschuss - Central Credit Committee), which represents the interests of umbrella associations in the banking industry, has given official approval to Sagem Orga's SECCOS 6.1 smart cards. The new technology will enable use not just in Germany, as up to now, but also - for the first time - in European payment transactions, since it complies with the requirements of the EU-wide SEPA framework. Sagem Orga believes that the multifunctional platform concept of SECCOS will prove to be ground-breaking in Europe.
Silvio Stockmann, Vice President and head of the Payments, Health and ID Business Unit at Sagem Orga, noted: "Certification of SECCOS 6.1 by the ZKA and the preceding certifications for MICARDO 3.0 for the electronic health card and Morpho-Citiz for the electronic identity card make Sagem Orga a forerunner in implementing the German government's eCard strategy, which will increase not only efficiency, but especially the security of online transactions with government agencies and offices."
Following completion of the pilot project, which is already underway, Sagem Orga will begin in November with the market rollout of the first 500,000 cards with SECCOS 6.1.
Around 125 million payment transaction cards are used in Germany, and cashless payment is growing in popularity. The SECCOS operating system (Secure Chip Card Operating System) works in the background to protect against card fraud and attempted forgery. SECCOS has opened the door to a large number of new applications for bank customers in Germany. Apart from traditional payment functions (electronic cash, the German GeldKarte), its multi-application architecture offers, for example, electronic tickets, a TAN generator, incorporation of the German "Youth Protection Symbol" and above all plenty of space for customer-specific applications.
The new SECCOS 6.1 smart cards offer a legally valid electronic signature function while also enabling a major step forward in thee standardization of European payment transactions. "SECCOS 6.1 means that Sagem Orga is ready for the electronic euro," said Silvio Stockmann. The SECCOS 6.1 smart cards now comply with the requirements of the European SEPA framework for the first time. The goal of the Single Euro Payments Area is to standardize cashless payment so that there is no difference between national and international payments within the EU for bank customers in Europe. The smart card vendor Sagem Orga has paved the way for this through the conformance of SECCOS 6.1 with the requirements of SEPA. "The multifunctional platform concept of SECCOS will be ground-breaking in Europe," said Stockmann.