Struggling UK smart card systems vendor ID Data has won an exclusive contract worth $800,000 to supply Multos smart cards to Buypass, a Norwegian provider of card payment and authentication services.
Shares in ID Data rose eight per cent to 0.58 pence on news of the deal with Buypass, which is jointly owned by The Norwegian Lottery and Norway Post and provides services based on the use of Multos smart cards for electronic cash delivery and electronic ID.
ID Data says the Buypass Multos product will be produced at its Petersfield facility in the UK.
Commenting on the contract win, Peter Cox, CEO of ID Data, says: "This project will demonstrate to ID Data's financial client base that we can migrate them from the simple chip and PIN solutions used today, to more advanced chip card solutions where multiple applications can co-exist on the same card. Such technology reduces the need for more than one piece of plastic in the consumer's wallet thereby allowing them to cope with new trends in Internet security, loyalty or other market driven applications."
ID Data has been struggling in the "challenging" UK market over the past two years and admitted in September that its net assets were less than 50% of its paid up share capital.
The group said in October that it had secured a £1.25 million loan from Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance for its interim working capital, which is supported by a personal guarantee of £1 million from Cox, who is the firm's largest shareholder.