VeriFone Systems, Inc. and Gemalto have announced further progress in their broad strategic partnership. The partnership was first announced in October 2010; the deal entails cooperative efforts in EMV chip card solutions, the handover of Gemalto’s (News - Alert) point of sale (POS) solutions business to VeriFone, and Gemalto's appointment as the preferred supplier of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) wireless modules and related solutions for VeriFone payment systems.

Both the companies have discussed and decided initial plans for joint introduction of EMV chip and pin solutions for the U.S. market. The companies intend to introduce EMV smart card solutions that provide a superior cardholder experience and complete data protection at the point of sale. They have taken this step as U.S. banks, retailers and card networks increasingly acknowledge chip card and contactless technologies as a core component of a comprehensive security infrastructure.

With the help of expertise from both the companies, for both issuing and accepting smart cards, they will provide a ready infrastructure to advance the U.S. market towards a much more secure and convenient payment method.

In addition, the parties have finalized the transfer of the POS solutions business, with closing effective Dec. 31, 2010. Moreover, VeriFone has assumed the fulfillment of existing customer relationships and product requirements for Gemalto POS customers, who are mainly located in the Middle East, South Africa and India. Concurrently, Gemalto has been designated VeriFone's preferred supplier of M2M wireless modules and related solutions. Both the parties did not disclose the financial terms.

Recently, VeriFone was in news when it announced that the flagship systems of its new VX Evolution product family have been validated as compliant with the new PCI (News - Alert) Payment Transaction Security (PTS) 3.0 security requirements.

Sujata Garud is a TMCnet freelancer with three years of writing/editing experience and two years of market research experience. As an editor she has covered the IT, electronics, banking, pharma, construction, mining and healthcare industries. To see more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jaclyn Allard