Source: Thames Card Technology
Thames Card Technology Ltd, one of the UK’s largest manufacturers of secure and non-secure plastic cards, specialising in banking and prepaid products has, in collaboration with long-term partner SIS Software and Services Serbia (SIS), won a three year deal to produce over one million EMV Dynamic Data Authentication (DDA) chip payment cards for the Serbian bank, Komercijalna banka AD Beograd.
Thames Card Technology will produce a range of stock cards with more than 10 designs, encompassing prepaid, contact DDA and dual interface as well as magnetic stripe gift cards. Once the cards have been delivered, SIS will carry out the card personalisation and fulfilment.
DDA technology improves customer security
Slobodan Lukic, Director, Department for Payment Cards Development and Customer Relations, Komercijalna banka AD Beograd, comments: “Working with Thames Card Technology and SIS gave us piece of mind that our customers would benefit from the enhanced security which comes with the DDA chip payment technology. And for this reason we’re confident we’ll meet our targets to grow our customer base beyond the more than one million customer accounts we currently manage.”
The industry-wide drive to increase card security has boosted adoption rates of DDA mechanisms. This technology now accounts for well over half of all global card shipments, thanks to the major global payment schemes pushing forward with DDA or Combined Data Authentication (CDA) schemes to combat fraud and respond to the increasing adoption of contactless payments*.
Across rapidly maturing markets in Eastern Europe, the majority of dual interface cards are now using DDA technology.
Eastern Europe is a growth market
The Komercijalna banka AD Beograd deal reflects the commitment of Eastern Europe’s financial institutions to increasing card security and reducing fraud; DDA provides protection against the modification of data and card cloning and is the most sophisticated EMV authentication protocol available today.
Paul Underwood, Managing Director of Thames Card Technology, comments: “The payment card industry is in a period of serious growth right across Eastern Europe, driven predominately by DDA chip payment and dual interface technologies. The Komercijalna banka deal not only represents another important milestone for Thames Card Technology, but also for the population of Serbia. According to the Association of Serbian Banks**, there are between five and six million Serbian payment cards in circulation, so this deal will have a big and positive impact on cardholders locally.”
Collaboration is the key to success
Thames Card Technology and SIS have worked together for the past 10 years and the renewal of the Komercijalna banka contract highlights another success borne out of this cross-border collaboration.
Zoran Zivkovic, Managing Director, SIS Software and Services Serbia, says: “Our client base continues to demand new ways to improve card services for their customers, which is a key reason why we’ve enjoyed such a long-standing relationship with Thames Card Technology. Without question, they’re a global leader in the production of high quality card solutions, and continue to lead the way in technological innovation, whilst always adhering to strict standards and deadlines.”