A smart card (SC), chip card, or integrated circuit card, is a card used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip. Many smart cards include a pattern of metal contacts to electrically connect to the internal chip. Others are contactless, and some are both. Smart cards can provide personal identification, authentication, data storage, and application processing. Applications include identification, financial, public transit, computer security, schools, and healthcare. Smart cards may provide strong security authentication for single sign-on (SSO) within organizations. Numerous nations have deployed smart cards throughout their populations.
A SIMcard is an integrated circuit (IC) intended to securely store an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and its related key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers on mobile telephone devices. Technically the actual physical card is known as a universal integrated circuit card (UICC); this smart card is usually made of PVC with embedded contacts and semiconductors, with the SIM as its primary component. In practice the term "SIM card" is still used to refer to the entire unit and not simply the IC.
Schlumberger NV, doing business as SLB, also known as Schlumberger Limited, is an American oilfield services company. As of 2022, it is both the world's largest offshore drilling company and the world's largest offshore drilling contractor by revenue.
WesternGeco is a geophysical services company. It is headquartered in Schlumberger House on the property of London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex.
Atos is a French multinational information technology (IT) service and consulting company with headquarters in Bezons, France, and offices worldwide. It specialises in hi-tech transactional services, unified communications, cloud, big data and cybersecurity services. Atos operates worldwide under the brands Atos, Atos|Syntel, Atos Consulting, Atos Healthcare, Atos Worldgrid, Groupe Bull, Canopy, Maven Wave, and Unify.
Verifone, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Coral Springs, Florida. Verifone provides technology for electronic payment transactions and value-added services at the point-of-sale. Verifone sells merchant-operated, consumer-facing and self-service payment systems to the financial, retail, hospitality, petroleum, government and healthcare industries. The company's products consist of POS electronic payment devices that run its own operating systems, security and encryption software, and certified payment software, and that are designed for both consumer-facing and unattended environments.
Hisense Group is a Chinese multinational major appliance and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China. Televisions are the main products of Hisense, and it is the largest TV manufacturer in China by market share since 2004. Hisense is also an OEM, so some of its products are sold to other companies and carry brand names not related to Hisense.
VisitScotland, formerly the Scottish Tourist Board, is a national tourism organisation for Scotland. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, and other parts of Scotland.
Smith International was a Fortune 500 company headquartered in the Greenspoint district and in unincorporated Harris County, Texas. Smith International ceased to exist as an independent company following the merger with Schlumberger. This company supplies products to gas and oil production and exploration companies. The company used to be identified by its red Sii logo. The company has recently changed its logo to consist of the word "SMITH" in black capital letters with a green globe.
Interfax is a Russian news agency. The agency is owned by Interfax News Agency joint-stock company and is headquartered in Moscow.
Gemalto was an international digital security company providing software applications, secure personal devices such as smart cards and tokens, e-wallets and managed services. It was formed in June 2006 by the merger of two companies, Axalto and Gemplus International. Gemalto N.V.'s revenue in 2018 was €2.969 billion.
The Aix-Marseille Graduate School of Management, also known as IAE Aix-en-Provence or IAE Aix is a business school in the South of France, part of Aix-Marseille University, the largest University in the French-speaking world, founded in 1409.
Former LHS Telekommunikation GmbH & Co. KG, is now a fully integrated part of Ericsson. From 28 January 2011, the Ericsson brand is used for all billing and customer care solutions of the company.
Sema Group plc was an Anglo-French IT services company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was acquired by Schlumberger in 2001.
Dominique Trempont is a US executive and board member in large multinational high tech companies and start-ups.
Alex J. Mandl was a notable Austrian-American businessman. He was the Executive Chairman of smart card giant Gemalto. He had been named "One of America's Most Powerful Businessmen" by Forbes magazine.
Avantix Mobile ("AVB") is a portable railway ticket issuing system used across the British railway network from 2001 to 2017.
SafeNet, Inc. was an information security company based in Belcamp, Maryland, United States, which was acquired in August 2014 by the French security company Gemalto. Gemalto was, in turn, acquired by Thales Group in 2019. The former SafeNet's products include solutions for enterprise authentication, data encryption, and key management. SafeNet's software monetization products are sold under the Thales Sentinel brand.
National Westminster Bank, trading as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it became part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, which was re-named NatWest Group in 2020. Following ringfencing of the group's core domestic business, the bank became a direct subsidiary of NatWest Holdings; NatWest Markets comprises the non-ringfenced investment banking arm. The British government currently owns 35% of NatWest Group after spending £45 billion bailing out the lender in 2008; the proportion at one point was 54.7%. NatWest International is a trading name of RBS International, which also sits outside the ringfence.
PayPak is a Pakistani domestic financial services and payment service launched by 1Link under the State Bank of Pakistan Vision 2020. Currently, 35 of the country's banks have adopted it. The reason to launch this domestic payment scheme was to save inter-change costs of International Payment Schemes. PayPak cards can only be used on ATMs & POS Terminals throughout Pakistan and enabled for online transactions.
