Gemplus and Providian Financial Corporation Deliver Multi-Application Smart Visa Card with Enhanced Online Benefits.

Business Editors

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 14, 2001

Providian Offers Its Customers Security and Convenience Online,

Supported by Gemplus Smart Card Expertise

Gemplus International S.A. (Nasdaq:GEMP) ("Gemplus"), the world's leading provider of solutions empowered by smart cards, today announced that Providian Financial Corporation (NYSE:PVN) ("Providian") will soon deploy a new online convenience application to Providian Smart Visa cardholders, powered by Gemplus' GemUtilities software, smart chips, and smart card readers. By enhancing the successful Providian Smart Visa program, with over 1 million cards already deployed, Gemplus and Providian continue their collaboration to meet growing consumer demand for smart card solutions in the U.S.

With Gemplus' GemUtilities v1.6 software and a smart card reader attached to their PC, Providian Smart Visa cardholders are able to conveniently make online purchases and securely store personal data on their smart cards. The card's Smart Access Key application offers cardholders more secure online authentication and access to their accounts. Furthermore, the Providian Smart Visa card-based loyalty application provides a platform for future merchant loyalty programs.

"A strong relationship with our cardholders is essential to our industry," said Elizabeth Tse, senior vice president at Providian. "Offering our customers the benefits of smart chip technology, with applications such as GemUtilities, reinforces Providian's proven customer-focused business model."

The capability to store multiple applications on one card has been a key driver for card issuers to turn to smart cards over the traditional bankcard. The challenge has been finding the perfect blend of valuable and interoperable applications and market readiness. The Providian Smart Visa successfully combines smart Visa Access, and Payment applications with GemUtilities v1.6 on the Java(R)-based GemXpresso card. Cardholders will enjoy added security and convenience while shopping on the Internet, in addition to the security, loyalty and payment capabilities their card provides.

Gemplus has propelled the smart card market in the United States with the launch of the three-dollar GemXpresso card for the Visa(R) U.S.A. smart card program in 2000. A leader in the worldwide financial services market, Gemplus provides total solutions for the banking sector, including: software, card management systems, personalization, consumer distribution systems, a wide range of Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV)-compliant cards and readers, and EMV consulting.

About Gemplus

Gemplus: the world's number one provider of solutions empowered by Smart Cards (Gartner Dataquest 2001).

Gemplus helps its clients offer an exceptional range of portable, personalized solutions that bring security and convenience to people's lives. These include mobile Internet access, inter-operable banking facilities, e-commerce and a wealth of other applications.

Gemplus is the only completely dedicated, truly global player in the Smart Card industry, with the largest R&D team, unrivalled experience, and an outstanding track record of technological innovation.

Gemplus trades its shares on Euronext Paris S.A. First Market and on the Nasdaq Stock Market as GEMP in the form of ADSs. Its revenue in 2000 was 1.205 Billion Euros. It employs 7800 people in 37 countries throughout the world.

Gemplus: Your Passport to the Digital Age

www.gemplus.com

About Providian Financial

Winner of the 2001 Rochester Institute of Technology/USA Today Quality Cup for excellence in customer service, San Francisco-based Providian (www.providian.com) is a leading provider of lending and deposit products to customers throughout the U.S., and offers credit cards and deposit products in the U.K. and in Argentina. Providian Financial has been named one of America's Most Admired Companies in a survey by Fortune magazine, one of the nation's top financial institutions by U.S. Banker magazine, and one of the most technologically innovative companies in the U.S. by InformationWeek magazine. The Company has more than $36 billion in assets under management and nearly 18 million customer accounts.

IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT CERTAIN OF THE STATEMENTS CONTAINED IN THIS RELEASE MAY CONSTITUTE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS WITHIN THE MEANING OF SECTION 27A OF THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 AND SECTION 21E OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934. THESE STATEMENTS RELATE TO FUTURE EVENTS OR OUR FUTURE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AND INVOLVE KNOWN AND UNKNOWN RISKS, UNCERTAINTIES AND OTHER FACTORS INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION CUSTOMER DEMAND FOR OUR PRODUCTS, SUPPLY OF KEY COMPONENTS, DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MARKET AND ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY THAT MAY CAUSE OUR OR OUR INDUSTRY'S ACTUAL RESULTS, LEVELS OF ACTIVITY, OR PERFORMANCE TO MATERIALLY DIFFER FROM THOSE EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED BY SUCH FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. FOR A MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THESE FACTORS, PLEASE SEE GEMPLUS' MOST RECENT FILINGS WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION. THESE STATEMENTS REFLECT MANAGEMENT'S CURRENT EXPECTATIONS REGARDING FUTURE EVENTS AND OPERATING PERFORMANCE AND SPEAK ONLY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS RELEASE. WE ARE UNDER NO DUTY TO UPDATE OR REVISE ANY OF THE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AFTER THIS DATE OR TO CONFORM SUCH STATEMENTS TO ACTUAL RESULTS OR TO REFLECT THE OCCURRENCE OF ANTICIPATED RESULTS.

Note to Editors: Gemplus, the Gemplus logo, Your Passport to the Digital Age, GemUtilities and GemXpresso are trademarks and service marks of Gemplus S.A. and are registered in certain countries. All other trademarks and service marks, whether registered or not in specific countries, are the property of their respective owners.