AUSTRIACARD has received the prestigious Élan Award of Excellence from the ICMA (International Card Manufacturers Association) in Phoenix, Arizona, for its highly innovative product „ACE Mobile Tag”. Selected from over 60 entries, the leading-edge contactless solution for Czech bank Česká spořitelna has won in the People’s Choice-category in the 25th anniversary year of the ICMA. The Élan Awards honor world-class achievements in both card design and technological innovation.
Contactless payment continues to gain pace as consumers in Europe become more familiar with the benefits of this easy-to-use and convenient way to pay. With the ACE Mobile Tag, AUSTRIACARD and its partner Schreiner PrinTrust have developed a bridging technology between payment cards and mobile payments. The sticker enables customers to easily add a contactless payment function to any mobile device.
Konstantinos Lagios, Chief Commercial Officer at AUSTRIACARD: “We constantly review new technologies for their potential to support our customers’ interest and business objectives. The prestigious ICMA award reiterates our commitment to provide customers with innovative solutions. We thank Česká for believing in this new product from the very beginning.”
Marie Hešnaurová (Head of Cards Development Department, Česká spořitelna): „Contactless payments became very popular in the Czech Republic with more than 70 000 POS terminals available for this payment method (more than 65% of all POS terminals on the Czech market). The sticker represents a suitable accessory product to our card portfolio and is appreciated by certain segments of our clients”.
Easy to use while ensuring high security
AUSTRIACARD started promoting the new technology three years ago. Ready to be attached to any mobile phone, the ACE Mobile Tag is the ideal alternative or complement to contactless cards. In addition to contactless payment, other applications such as loyalty programs, ticketing, or access authorization can be integrated. Before dispatch to the customer, the sticker is embedded into a carrier card and customized with the according customer data.
The acronym ACE stands for AUSTRIACARD’s proprietary EMV product line. EMV is a global standard for cards equipped with payment chips.
The most renowned showcase for card excellence
The Élan award is the only award in the industry that recognizes card design, personalization and product innovation, as well as technical achievement in the industry. The global awards represent the pinnacle of card manufacturing achievement in seven different categories. Taking into consideration the entries in all the categories, the ICMA EXPO delegates select the winner of the People’s Choice Award.
About AUSTRIACARD
AUSTRIACARD is a leading company in the field of secure transactions and digital security, and renowned for its smart card development and production. Some 60 million cards are produced per year with a team of approximately 400 employees. Two thirds of the cards produced are exported, primarily to Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and the Middle East.
AUSTRIACARD is fully owned by the family-managed Lykos AG, based in Vienna. Lykos AG is also the mother company of Inform P. Lykos, based in Greece. This company was founded in 1897 and is a regional leader in the information management and document processing business.
About Schreiner PrinTrust
Schreiner PrinTrust, a business unit of Schreiner Group GmbH & Co. KG based in Oberschleissheim near Munich, Germany, develops and markets specific functional and security labels for system suppliers and service providers focused on identification and authentication solutions. The unit’s activities are centered on customers such as card manufacturers, RFID system integrators and suppliers of products for government authorities. Schreiner PrinTrust’s portfolio is focused on customized self-adhesion products and services for PIN protection, NFC-stickers for contactless payment, RFID solutions for automatic vehicle identification, as well as products such as vignettes, stickers and transfer seals serving as proof of payment of official fees or as access authorization.