Infineon Chips Ensure 22 Million Daily Contactless Transactions Run Smoothly for Seoul’s Public Transportation System

Munich – May 23, 2007 – Infineon Technologies, global market leader in integrated circuits (ICs) for chipcards, today announced that it has been supplying semiconductors to the T-money (Transportation money) project in the greater Seoul area of Korea. This is one of the largest projects worldwide for contactless applications in public transportation systems. Since the system launched in July 2004, the electronic tickets for the public transport network in the greater Seoul area have used Infineon semiconductors. Infineon’s security controllers ensure that travelers pay the right fare for bus, subway or taxi routes in the Korean capital, which account for nearly 22 million transactions a day. The security controllers can also be used for vending machines or coffee shops. Infineon has delivered ten million security controllers to Infotrust Inc. Korea. The system integrator is the partner of Korea Smart Card Co. (KSCC), the public transport operator in Seoul. Infotrust expects to deliver 14 million security chips by the end of 2008 based on the increasing commuter traffic and expansion of transport networks.

Separately, in Munich, Germany, today, KSCC awarded Infineon a ”Plate of Appreciation” in recognition of excellent cooperation, reliability and service. “The security controllers from Infineon permit T-money to be used as a platform for a host of services,” said Kim Jeong Geun, President & CEO of KSCC. “These services include paying at restaurants, various convenient stores, parking charges and tunnel tolls, and entry to public facilities and museums. T-money can also be used as a prepaid card in mobile phones. The secure, contactless transfer of data ensures hassle-free payment for our service and allows us to successfully implement comprehensive traffic survey and traffic optimization policies,” Kim continued.

Dr. Helmut Gassel, Vice President and General Manager at Infineon and Head of the Chip Card and Security ICs Business Unit said, “We are greatly honored by the award and are happy to have enabled Infotrust and KSCC to operate this innovative high-volume project. In the next couple of years, we expect a growing demand for secure contactless solutions in the transportation segment. Thanks to our long-standing experience and know-how in the field of contactless security technology, we see ourselves in a very good position to best serve this market.”

The changeover from paper to electronic tickets delivers many advantages to the operator and passengers. For instance, the T-money tickets are used in buses, subways and taxis. Commuters benefit because billing takes place once the passenger checks out of the system at the destination. The data is transmitted via an online network from the readers to the data center, ensuring that the exact billing for the routes are taken. In addition, the data from the ticketing system are used for fine-tuning the transport links and timetable synchronization. Information on passenger volume and customer flows create transparency and planning reliability to better provide the best-matched capacities at the right place and time. The contactless technology deployment also cuts system and maintenance costs.

The Infineon security controllers ICs are equipped with a number of complex security mechanisms, which hamper attempts of abuse such as cloning or the readout of the stored data. This is a basic requirement with T-Money because the integrated security controllers also securely manage ePurse-functionalities such as the payment of goods and services. These features all require a high security of level.