Schlumberger to open Latin America's first smart card manufacturing facility in Mexico City.

MEXICO CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 14, 1997

-- $40 million expansion is designed to satisfy growing demand

for smart card-enabled products and services

in Mexico, Central and Latin America --

In a move designed to bring business development and manufacturing closer to its expanding customer base, Schlumberger Electronic Transactions, a unit of Schlumberger, Ltd. (NYSE: SLB), today announced that it will officially open the first smart card manufacturing plant to serve the burgeoning Latin American market in Mexico City on April 17th 1997.

Schlumberger-Printer secures leadership position

The roots of this development can be traced to July 1996, when Schlumberger Electronic Transactions acquired an 80% interest in its partner, Printer, Mexico's leading magnetic stripe card manufacturer and check personalizer. Printer, a key supplier to Mexico's banks and telecommunications companies -- both Visa and MasterCard certified -- adds a powerful new dimension to Schlumberger's capabilities in the growing Latin American market. This joint venture, called Schlumberger-Printer, is based in Mexico City.

Effective presence in an explosive market

"Latin America is poised for massive growth in smart card usage, and this announcement significantly reinforces Schlumberger's leadership position throughout the entire region," says Eric Claudel, Director General, Schlumberger-Printer. "With decades of local experience and expertise, Printer has strong established links with key government departments, banks and telecommunications companies. This new state-of-the-art Schlumberger-Printer manufacturing facility will allow us to better serve new and existing customers and provide a substantial Mexico-based bridgehead from which to address the rapidly expanding smart card and telecom markets of Central and South America."

Schlumberger-Printer specializes in customizing retail, magnetic stripe, and smart cards, providing a comprehensive range of services for both small and large customers. Additionally, it is a leader in printing checks and similar secure paper forms. The company counts Mexico's top banks and telcos among its clients, including Bancomer and Telmex.

In previously unannounced news, Telmex has awarded Schlumberger Electronic Transactions a major contract to deliver 25,000 smart card-equipped public telephones. Schlumberger will assemble nearly half of these phones locally, in Mexico. It is estimated that Telmex's annual card requirements may ultimately reach 200 million per year.

First in Mexico

Schlumberger-Printer currently produces some 20 million plastic cards per annum, making it Mexico's largest manufacturer. This volume is expected to grow to as much as 50 million cards in 1997, with smart cards accounting for a majority of production.

According to Claudel, "Adding chip technology to our manufacturing capability will accelerate our growth substantially, tripling card output within just two years and enabling us to address the extensive deployment of smart card technology planned by Mexico's government, banks and telcos."

Schlumberger is investing $40 million (US) in the 5,000 square meter facility, which will create 200 new jobs in the next year.

Schlumberger advanced technology is the foe of fraud

The company is also involved in the major smart card projects announced by the Mexican government, which has identified the many security benefits of smart cards. For example, as part of its massive "Pase" program, the government will issue millions of smart cards for health, social security and welfare purposes to most of Mexico's 100 million citizens. The government also plans to introduce a "vote" card as part of its campaign to eliminate another serious problem, election fraud

Fraud is a serious problem around the world. To help combat this problem in Latin America, Mexican banks have adopted the VisaCash standard for their next generation smart card-based payment cards. Schlumberger has worked closely with EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) on the definition of this smart card standard. Accordingly, Schlumberger-Printer will supply smart cards to one of Mexico's largest banks (the Banco Bilbao de Viscaya) for field trials of the new stored value payment cards in 1997, and to the major pilot projects which follow. When Schlumberger's smart card-based bank cards were first introduced in France, fraud was reduced from 2% of the transaction costs to almost zero. The improved on-chip security and authentication mechanisms in today's smart cards are expected to reduce bank fraud in Mexico just as quickly.

The official opening

The operations of the new Schlumberger-Printer factory will be officially inaugurated at a opening ceremony next Thursday, April 17th between 6-10 p.m., with a ribbon-cutting and remarks starting at 7 p.m. Mr. Claudel, His Excellency Bruno Delaye, French Ambassador to Mexico and other prominent dignitaries will attend the event, to which media are invited.

Schlumberger, Ltd.

Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB)is an international technical company selling products, services and solutions to improve the productivity of customers in more than 100 countries. Schlumberger employs 57,000 people of 90 nationalities generating more than $8.9 billion in revenue. Schlumberger is a worldwide leader in Oilfield Services and Measurement & Systems (M&S).

M&S adds value to systems which exchange things of value from providers to consumers by applying advanced technology that optimizes the distribution, measurement and control of information, capital and resources. M&S develops, produces, and implements infrastructures that transact a profitable communications flow between providers and consumers. The M&S division operates over 70 plants and employs more than 20,000 people generating $2.9 billion in revenue. M&S is organized into customer-focused groups: Electronic Transactions, Automatic Test Equipment, Electricity Management, Gas Management, and Water Management.

Schlumberger in Latin America

With sales offices in 7 countries, 7 factories in 5 different countries, over 1700 employees and an $200 million of revenue in 96, M&S in Latin America has established a strong presence in this growing area of the world, especially in the metering business (electricity is also a major activity in which Schlumberger has been active for more than 40 years). Tecnobras, Schlumbergers water meter manufacturing company based in Brazil, has more than 50 years of water metering experience in South America.

Schlumberger Electronic Transactions

Schlumberger Electronic Transactions offers a flexible portfolio of smart card-based solutions for businesses and communities of all sizes. They provide cards, terminals, development tools and support in open configurations for operators, developers, integrators and distributors around the world. Schlumberger is the only company in the industry that provides both turnkey solutions and a full range of tools and services for Telecom, Banking, Retail, Mass Transit & Parking, Healthcare and Networks. The company has design and manufacturing facilities in Europe, North America, Asia -- and now Mexico -- and produces hundreds of millions of cards annually as both private and government sectors move toward cashless, paperless transactions. The Electronic Transactions group employs over 5,000 people and operates 50 facilities. Among dedicated facilities in 32 countries, the group has 9 research and development centers strategically located in Europe, Asia and North America.

In 1996, Schlumberger launched The Smart Village(R), a brand that represents, in part, our vision of an integrated business and community a true world village. Major financial institutions and banks, telecommunications operators and global network service providers, national and local government bodies have all identified the smart card as a key to improving competitiveness while offering increased convenience and security to their customers.

Schlumberger-Printer

Founded in 1946, Printer employs more than 600 people with sales revenue of $35 million (1996). An 80%-20% venture, Schlumberger-Printer, was formed in 1996. The company has expertise in smart card technology, magnetic-stripe card and retail card manufacturing, and secure document/check printing.

CONTACT: North America:

Environics Communications, Stamford, Conn.

Deb Montner or Jennifer Dickau

Tel: [phone], ext. 14/11

E-Mail: [e-mail] -or-

[e-mail]

-OR-

Europe:

Schlumberger Electronic Transactions, Montrouge, France

Isabelle Ferdane-Couderc

Tel: [phone]

E-Mail: [e-mail]

-OR-

Business Contact:

Schlumberger-Printer, Mexico City

Eric Claudel, Director General

Tel: [phone]

E-Mail: [e-mail]