AT&T SMART CARDS MAY BECOME WORLD STANDARD FOR CASHLESS WALLETS, ELECTRONIC COMMERCE.

SOMERSET, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 31, 1995--AT&T's innovative smart card technology could become the world's standard for cashless wallets and electronic commerce.

AT&T announced today it will license its "contactless" smart card technology, featured in the company's futuristic "You Will" television advertising, to customers in the U.S. and around the globe who want the cards to speed transportation access, highway toll-collections, banking transactions, cashless retail purchases and other uses.

AT&T's Smart Cards, which are more efficient, more secure, and more durable than other smart cards, are already being used, for example, by Delta Airlines' Shuttle service for ticketless boarding on flights in the northeastern United States, for highway toll-collection in Italy, and by a cashless vending machine company (GiroVend Holding Ltd.) in the U.S. and Europe.

AT&T and Lockheed Martin are also working with companies to develop building security and other sophisticated security applications for the cards, which AT&T itself will be using for employee identification and building security in its offices worldwide.

"We are already negotiating with three companies in different parts of the world for technology licenses," said John Bermingham, president of AT&T Smart Cards. "The time is right for global development of smart card applications. People see what can be done, the time and money that can be saved, and they're saying, `Why not?'"

"AT&T's technology is the best choice for customers who want state-of-the-art capabilities for multiple, innovative applications on a single card," Bermingham said.

AT&T said it will help customers who license the technology develop applications for transportation, banking, financial services, retail, security, health and other industries.

AT&T's Smart Cards contain 8-bit microcomputers complete with their own operating systems in a credit-card sized package. AT&T Smart Cards use a contactless technology, that is, they don't have the exposed metallic contacts of other smart cards, which are subject to wear, contamination and static electricity damage.

Instead, AT&T Smart Cards use a patented design and interface invented at AT&T Bell Laboratories that can be read by placing the cards on or into ATMs, vending machines, various point-of-sale card readers, and other devices.

Card bearers must pass whatever security tests have been programmed into the cards. The cards may contain digital photos, fingerprints, voice prints, signatures or other encrypted information. Then, when verified, card holders may gain entry to buildings or computer terminals, complete their purchases, receive boarding passes, or conduct dozens of other possible transactions -- all with a single card.

The memory for AT&T cards is designed for 100,000 write and erase cycles -- a 10-year life or longer.

Businesses interested in licensing the AT&T technology should call AT&T Smart Cards in Somerset, N.J., at 908-627-9179.

CONTACT: Monty Hoyt 

201-581-4067 (office)

908-953-9172 (home)

or

David Bikle

201-581-3938 (office)

201-871-0104 (home)