ME Newswire / Businesswire
AMSTERDAM - Wednesday, November 13th 2013
Regulatory News:
Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, and Byblos Bank, one of Lebanon's top three banks, joined forces to launch the Middle East's first bio-sourced EMV payment cards in Lebanon. This initiative, a first-of-its-kind in the region, is the result of Byblos Bank's investment for a green and sustainable environment in Lebanon. Working with Gemalto's local partner Unilux Cards, Byblos Bank plans to migrate 80% of its entire banking card portfolio to Gemalto's Clarista bio-sourced payment cards within the next three years.
The new cards will be replacing the conventional plastic card body with renewable materials that are easily recyclable and compostable. The bank has already started offering the Clarista bio-sourced cards as a standard to all new cardholders, and will be steadily switching the existing Byblos Bank debit, credit and prepaid cards to the bio-sourced alternative, as they become due for renewal. Holders of the new bio-sourced cards will be automatically enrolled in the Bank's existing Card Loyalty Program, which offers a wide range of rewards such as travel points or miles.
The Gemalto EMV payment card uses renewable materials and is authorized by MasterCard and Visa. Furthermore, the Gemalto bio-sourced cards' outstanding green credentials have been achieved without compromising either security or durability. The environmentally friendly cards also offer the same potential for high quality, creative design and artwork solutions as conventional plastic payment cards.
"In deploying these bio-sourced products, not only do we show our deep-rooted commitment for a sustainable and green environment, but we underline Byblos Bank's strategic vision in evaluating and managing the environmental impact of every policy, product or initiative that it takes," said Gilbert Zouein, Assistant General Manager and Head of Group Products, Segments and Marketing at Byblos Bank Group. "The Clarista bio-sourced payment cards fulfill perfectly our green ambitions and Gemalto was quite simply the only supplier in the market able to offer a product that met our exacting standards for both environmental protection and customer service."
"Consumers' needs continue to evolve. They now want environmentally friendly products in every part of their life including banking. This ground-breaking project, a first in the Middle East, clearly positions Byblos Bank as a pioneer," said Emmanuel Payraud, Vice President of Secure Transactions for the Middle East at Gemalto. "Drawing on a range of green banking solutions that we can offer, banks can put their environmental values in practice, reduce business overheads and enhance customer communications."
About Gemalto
Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2012 annual revenues of €2.2 billion and more than 10,000 employees operating out of 83 offices and 13 Research & Development centers, located in 43 countries.
We are at the heart of the rapidly evolving digital society. Billions of people worldwide increasingly want the freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain and work – anytime, everywhere – in ways that are enjoyable and safe. Gemalto delivers on their expanding needs for personal mobile services, payment security, authenticated cloud access, identity and privacy protection, eHealthcare and eGovernment efficiency, convenient ticketing and dependable machine-to-machine (M2M) applications. We develop secure embedded software and secure products which we design and personalize. Our platforms and services manage these products, the confidential data they contain and the trusted end-user services made possible.
Our innovations enable our clients to offer trusted and convenient digital services to billions of individuals. Gemalto thrives with the growing number of people using its solutions to interact with the digital and wireless world.
For more information visit www.gemalto.com, www.justaskgemalto.com, blog.gemalto.com, or follow @gemalto on Twitter.
About Byblos Bank
Byblos Bank is one of Lebanon's top three banks. It boasts one of the largest and best-spread domestic branch networks, and is actually present in 12 countries in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. Among its shareholders, Byblos Bank has the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, the Agence Française de Développement, the development agency of the French government, and its subsidiary Proparco.
The Bank is listed on both the London Stock Exchange and Beirut Stock Exchange. In 2012, it recorded the highest Tier 1 capital-to- assets ratio of all Lebanese banks for the fourth consecutive year as per the annual Top 1000 World Banks issue of The Banker magazine, a sister publication of The Financial Times. The Tier 1 capital-to-assets ratio that stands at 8.18% confirms Byblos Bank as the most solid in Lebanon.
Byblos Bank provides full-fledged consumer banking, commercial banking, correspondent banking, and capital markets services to an ever growing clientele, both locally and internationally. In all the countries where it operates, Byblos Bank adheres to international standards of corporate governance, customer satisfaction, and quality service, and drives business growth while supporting social and economic development.
For More Information visit www.byblosbank.com
Contacts
Gemalto
Media
Peggy Edoire, +33 4 42 36 45 40
Europe, Middle East & Africa
peggy.edoire@gemalto.com
Pierre Lelievre, +65 6317 3802
Asia Pacific
pierre.lelievre@gemalto.com
Nicole Smith, +1 512 758 8921
North America
nicole.smith@gemalto.com
or
Ernesto Haikewitsch, +55 11 5105 9220
Latin America
ernesto.haikewitsch@gemalto.com
Byblos Bank
Rudy Sassine, 009611-335200 (Ext.: 0314)
Group Communication Department at Byblos Bank
rsassine@byblosbank.com.lb
Permalink: http://me-newswire.net/news/9162/en
AMSTERDAM - Wednesday, November 13th 2013
Regulatory News:
Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, and Byblos Bank, one of Lebanon's top three banks, joined forces to launch the Middle East's first bio-sourced EMV payment cards in Lebanon. This initiative, a first-of-its-kind in the region, is the result of Byblos Bank's investment for a green and sustainable environment in Lebanon. Working with Gemalto's local partner Unilux Cards, Byblos Bank plans to migrate 80% of its entire banking card portfolio to Gemalto's Clarista bio-sourced payment cards within the next three years.
The new cards will be replacing the conventional plastic card body with renewable materials that are easily recyclable and compostable. The bank has already started offering the Clarista bio-sourced cards as a standard to all new cardholders, and will be steadily switching the existing Byblos Bank debit, credit and prepaid cards to the bio-sourced alternative, as they become due for renewal. Holders of the new bio-sourced cards will be automatically enrolled in the Bank's existing Card Loyalty Program, which offers a wide range of rewards such as travel points or miles.
The Gemalto EMV payment card uses renewable materials and is authorized by MasterCard and Visa. Furthermore, the Gemalto bio-sourced cards' outstanding green credentials have been achieved without compromising either security or durability. The environmentally friendly cards also offer the same potential for high quality, creative design and artwork solutions as conventional plastic payment cards.
"In deploying these bio-sourced products, not only do we show our deep-rooted commitment for a sustainable and green environment, but we underline Byblos Bank's strategic vision in evaluating and managing the environmental impact of every policy, product or initiative that it takes," said Gilbert Zouein, Assistant General Manager and Head of Group Products, Segments and Marketing at Byblos Bank Group. "The Clarista bio-sourced payment cards fulfill perfectly our green ambitions and Gemalto was quite simply the only supplier in the market able to offer a product that met our exacting standards for both environmental protection and customer service."
"Consumers' needs continue to evolve. They now want environmentally friendly products in every part of their life including banking. This ground-breaking project, a first in the Middle East, clearly positions Byblos Bank as a pioneer," said Emmanuel Payraud, Vice President of Secure Transactions for the Middle East at Gemalto. "Drawing on a range of green banking solutions that we can offer, banks can put their environmental values in practice, reduce business overheads and enhance customer communications."
About Gemalto
Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2012 annual revenues of €2.2 billion and more than 10,000 employees operating out of 83 offices and 13 Research & Development centers, located in 43 countries.
We are at the heart of the rapidly evolving digital society. Billions of people worldwide increasingly want the freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain and work – anytime, everywhere – in ways that are enjoyable and safe. Gemalto delivers on their expanding needs for personal mobile services, payment security, authenticated cloud access, identity and privacy protection, eHealthcare and eGovernment efficiency, convenient ticketing and dependable machine-to-machine (M2M) applications. We develop secure embedded software and secure products which we design and personalize. Our platforms and services manage these products, the confidential data they contain and the trusted end-user services made possible.
Our innovations enable our clients to offer trusted and convenient digital services to billions of individuals. Gemalto thrives with the growing number of people using its solutions to interact with the digital and wireless world.
For more information visit www.gemalto.com, www.justaskgemalto.com, blog.gemalto.com, or follow @gemalto on Twitter.
About Byblos Bank
Byblos Bank is one of Lebanon's top three banks. It boasts one of the largest and best-spread domestic branch networks, and is actually present in 12 countries in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. Among its shareholders, Byblos Bank has the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, the Agence Française de Développement, the development agency of the French government, and its subsidiary Proparco.
The Bank is listed on both the London Stock Exchange and Beirut Stock Exchange. In 2012, it recorded the highest Tier 1 capital-to- assets ratio of all Lebanese banks for the fourth consecutive year as per the annual Top 1000 World Banks issue of The Banker magazine, a sister publication of The Financial Times. The Tier 1 capital-to-assets ratio that stands at 8.18% confirms Byblos Bank as the most solid in Lebanon.
Byblos Bank provides full-fledged consumer banking, commercial banking, correspondent banking, and capital markets services to an ever growing clientele, both locally and internationally. In all the countries where it operates, Byblos Bank adheres to international standards of corporate governance, customer satisfaction, and quality service, and drives business growth while supporting social and economic development.
For More Information visit www.byblosbank.com
Contacts
Gemalto
Media
Peggy Edoire, +33 4 42 36 45 40
Europe, Middle East & Africa
peggy.edoire@gemalto.com
Pierre Lelievre, +65 6317 3802
Asia Pacific
pierre.lelievre@gemalto.com
Nicole Smith, +1 512 758 8921
North America
nicole.smith@gemalto.com
or
Ernesto Haikewitsch, +55 11 5105 9220
Latin America
ernesto.haikewitsch@gemalto.com
Byblos Bank
Rudy Sassine, 009611-335200 (Ext.: 0314)
Group Communication Department at Byblos Bank
rsassine@byblosbank.com.lb
Permalink: http://me-newswire.net/news/9162/en