Bull Anounces the Neng Payment Card, Designed for the Chinese Banking Industry and Based on Bull's Unique Security Know-How.

BEIJING, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 31, 1998--

Neng Card Will be Part of the SmartPay Package, a Comprehensive Payment System in Use in China for Four Years

Bull Smart Cards & Terminals, the world leader in microprocessor bank cards, announced today the "Neng" smart card. This new card is Bull's answer to the People's Bank of China's (PBOC) quest for a nationwide chip-card interoperability standard for the entire banking system. Today, Bull holds 70 percent of the Chinese bank card market, and was the first manufacturer to deliver cards meeting the new standards to a Chinese bank. The announcement was made at the CIFTEE'98 trade show (China International Exhibition on Financial Banking Technology & Equipment), taking place here from August 30 to September 2.

The Neng card was introduced in China in June. Bull was the first supplier worldwide to sign a contract for the new-specifications payment card with a Chinese bank, namely the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (PDB). The PDB, which was one of the first banks to distribute IC cards in China, is a long-standing Bull partner. "Along with Bull, the PDB has helped define the specifications of the new national payment card," said M. Sun Fuji, director of the IT department at the PDB. "Now, Bull and the PDB are taking the lead in launching pilot sites that use the Neng card."

The new specifications, designed to create a national standard, were defined by PBOC with the support of Visa and Bull. Described by PBOC as "a manufacturer of world renown," Bull was among the first companies that helped define a national chip-card interoperability standard. "Bull is pleased to have participated in this project, as it will allow China to rank among the most advanced countries worldwide in electronic banking," said David Levy, general manager of Bull Smart Cards & Terminals. "The People's Republic of China is one of the major areas of development for Bull Smart Cards & Terminals."

Extensive experience in China

The Neng card is part of Bull's SmartPay(tm) global payment system. This system, based on a chip card, was marketed in China in 1994 in response to project Golden Card, launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Industry, and PBOC. SmartPay includes a chip card, back-office systems, EFT/POS terminals and Automatic Teller Machines (ATM). SmartPay is used by the Shanghai PDB, the Shenzhen City Union Bank and Hifinet, a network of banks in the province of Hainan. Today, more than 1.2 million people use the TB100 chip card developed by Bull.

"The Neng card will allow Bull to reinforce its leadership position in China, as we already hold 70 percent of the market with the TB100 payment cards," Levy said. "All of our clients equipped with the SmartPay system will be able to migrate easily to the national standard."

Launched in September 1994, project Golden Card was designed to develop a modern national payment system in order to reduce cash transactions, follow currency trends, promote and develop the Chinese electronics industry and establish a chip-card standard.

Endorsing Bull initiative, Mr. Leehun Lee, vice president and chief representative of VISA International in China, said, "In its role to develop the use of state-of-the-art payment technologies based on standards and interoperability, VISA is confident that the Bull card will meet the Chinese IC standard, initiated, developed, and finalized by PBOC and VISA, and will make China a model for the countries who have not yet adopted smart cards in nationwide payment systems."

Bull: World Leader in Chip-card Security

Committed to its principles, Bull has given the Neng card the same degree of security as the rest of its product line. The security level has been evaluated by independent organizations at level E3-Strong mechanisms, which represents the highest level ever attained by a chip card. "The Neng card contains all Bull's security know-how, built up over 20 years in the banking industry," Levy said. In addition to cards, Bull offers Security Access Modules (SAM), terminals with development tools, personalization services and training programs.

One Card, Multiple Applications

The Neng card offers all the features required by PBOC (e.g., electronic deposit and electronic purse) and many more. With the electronic deposit application, card holders can credit or debit money on their card, pay for purchases using POS terminals, withdraw money from ATMs or simply check account balances. A PIN code provides the security needed and allows card holder authentication. The e-purse application allows for quick payment of small sums without the use of the PIN code. The Neng card meets the EMV (Europay-MasterCard-VISA) standard.

Openness to Other Applications

To allow Chinese banks to tailor their services to the needs of their customers, thus standing out from the competition, Bull offers the ability to:

--Add "contactless" technology (the Neng Duo card) for use in public transportation or access control in high-security buildings --Add special applications such as loyalty programs --Provide a wide range of memory sizes.

Bull: Leading Supplier of Project Green Card

In addition to Project Golden Card, Bull is the leader in the systems integration project Green Card, which consists of computerizing and equipping Chinese post offices with UNIX servers and ATMs. "Today, Bull serves 4.8 million Chinese who open savings accounts in post offices equipped by Bull," said Jeremy Su, general manager of Bull Greater China.

About Bull's Smart Cards & Terminals

Bull designs and markets a wide range of contact and contactless microprocessor cards, electronic payment terminals and automatic points of contact including cash dispensers and multimedia kiosk POS terminals. In 1997, these activities generated revenue of $237 million, an increase of 32 percent over 1996.

The history of smart cards at Bull goes back to 1979 when Bull's Michel Ugon, in collaboration with Motorola, invented the world's first microprocessor card (CP8 technology). Today, all microprocessor cards worldwide still use Bull CP8 technology for the micro-electronic part (SPOM - Self-Programmable One chip Microcontroller) patent. As far as applications are concerned, 210 million micro-processor cards use CP8 technology, either as patents or operating systems.

Bull is world leader in the electronic purse segment with more than 27 million cards in use in ten countries. Approximately 60 percent of bank cards used in the world today have been designed by Bull. Bull is also a leader in electronic payment terminals, with 650,000 machines installed worldwide.

More information on Bull Smart Cards & Terminals can be found on the World Wide Web at: http://www.cp8.bull.net, on Groupe Bull site at http://www.bull.com

    CONTACT: Bull Smart Cards & Terminals (France)
              Catherine Vincent, 33(0)1 39 66 42 63
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