Gemalto and
Crédit Agricole have finally taken the leap and are going to
issue contactless EMV cards across the whole of France.
The announcement comes after a year or so of
city-based trial periods. Almost exactly a year ago, Crédit
Agricole began a contactless payments trial via mobile phone with
Gemalto’s wireless NFC solution.
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Crédit Agricole said at the time that the
partnership was part of its ‘Nice, Ville NFC’ initiative to roll
out NFC payments via mobile phones in the French city.
Gabrielle Bugat, senior vice president,
Gemalto said:
“With this new project, Crédit Agricole is
keen to offer their customers secure and reliable payment
solutions, while benefiting from the latest technological
innovation. Contactless is one of the key cooperation and
development areas for 2012, both for Gemalto and Crédit
Agricole.”
The cards will enable purchases of less than
€20 ($26) without a PIN.
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By GlobalDataContactless payments have started to be
marketed extensively in France, and several trials have taken place
in various French cities over the past year.
Crédit Agricole was among another two banks
(BNP Paribas and HSBC) to take part in Visa Europe France’s
contactless payments trial in Strasbourg.
At the time, Gerard Neboy, managing director
of Visa Europe France said: “Within a few years, everyone in France
will be able to benefit from this technology.”
Most recently, French smartcard technology
provider Morpho, a subsidiary of Safran Group, partnered with
micropayments service provider Moneo Payment Solutions to launch
the MoneoPass by Morpho contactless card.
The contactless card can be used for a range
of applications including Moneo payments, access to transport,
access management and control, season tickets, ID badges, catering
and loyalty cards
