With the completion of MasterCard's most stringent security testing, Oberthur Technologies has demonstrated that Flash-memory based payment cards can be fully compliant with global payment standards. Flash-memory based products bring more flexibility to financial institutions in issuing with a reduced time to market by eliminating the "masking" phase, which is usually required to load software onto the payment card's chip during the manufacturing process. With Flash memory, cards can be securely loaded with customized applications such as debit, credit or other payment applications without having to go through the masking process.

Flash technology has become the universal memory standard in the semiconductor world, and is commonly used in SIM cards for mobile phones or for mass storage devices. It provides greater flexibility for managing applications and no power is needed to maintain the information stored.

"We are proud to announce that Oberthur Technologies has obtained the CAST certification for a Flash based payment card guaranteeing compliance with MasterCard requirements. It shows Oberthur Technologies' capacity to innovate and develop new products that are built on years of experience and expertise in security", says Frederic Chevreton, General Manager, Payment Product Line, Card Systems Division at Oberthur Technologies.

"To combine the characteristics of flash technology and payment card platforms will bring key benefits to issuers, says Art Kranzley, Chief Emerging Technology Officer at MasterCard. "Flash-based products are looking extremely promising and are showing an increasing interest for the payment industry. This CAST approval obtained by Oberthur Technologies is an important step forward."