Riverwoods, IL, -- November 28,
2006 -- Discover Network, a business unit of Discover
Financial Services and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS),
today announced that it has certified the Saturn
5000 contactless reader developed by On Track
Innovations (OTI) (NASDAQ: OTIV), a global leader
in contactless microprocessor-based smart card
solutions, for use with Discover Network's contactless
payment application.
The certification
process ensures that the Saturn 5000's reader
technology is able to support Discover Network's
proprietary contactless payment solution. Additional
OTI readers are in the certification process.
“The certification of the Saturn 5000
is the latest milestone in Discover Network's
ongoing efforts to provide an efficient, safer
and more convenient contactless payment solution
to our merchants, issuers and their cardholders,”
said Joby Orlowsky, vice president of marketing
for Discover. “By continuing to identify and certify
card readers that meet our stringent standards
of quality, security, and ease of use, we expect
our momentum in contactless payments to accelerate
even more rapidly.”
Compatible with
major POS terminal providers and acquirers, Saturn
5000's enhanced features allow the reader to support
multiple application programs and read a variety
of payments sources, including credit cards and
key fobs and cell phones. The console's plug-and-play
design and small footprint facilitates quick upgrades
of existing POS terminals to accept contactless
payments. And because the reader faces the customer,
the Saturn 5000 enables easier and faster payment
transactions. Additionally, OTI's patented matched
antenna technology provides more effective power
consumption, reliable and stable communications,
and additional levels of security and encryption
throughout the communication link.
“Discover
Network's certification of OTI's Saturn 5000 reader
helps validate our expertise and growing technological
leadership in contactless payment solutions,”
said Oded Bashan, chairman, president and CEO
of OTI. “As a leading payments network, Discover
Network greatly extends our support of contactless
programs from major financial institutions and
brands.”
Contactless payments are made possible
through radio frequency identification technology,
or an embedded RFID chip, that allows cardholders
to simply hold their credit or debit cards or
key tag within an inch or two of a contactless
card reader to complete a purchase transaction.
In addition to providing consumers with
unparalleled convenience, contactless payment
technology allows retailers to move more customers
through checkout lines in less time, resulting
in transaction volume increases of up to 12 percent.
A recent study also showed that contactless payment
systems help increase average transaction size
by up to 30 percent compared to cash spending.
,
About Discover Financial
Services Discover Financial Services
LLC, a business unit of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:
MS), operates the Discover Card with more than
50 million Cardmembers, and the Discover Network
with more than 4 million merchant and cash access
locations. Discover Financial Services also operates
the PULSE ATM/debit network, which serves over
4,200 financial institutions and includes almost
250,000 ATMs and approximately 3.4 million POS
terminals. For more information, visit
www.discovercard.com,
www.discovernetwork.com
or
www.pulse-eft.com.
About OTI Established
in 1990, OTI (NASDAQ: OTIV) designs, develops
and markets secure contactless microprocessor-based
smart card technology to address the needs of
a wide variety of markets. Applications developed
by OTI include product solutions for petroleum
payment systems, homeland security solutions,
electronic passports and IDs, payments, mass transit
ticketing, parking, loyalty programs and secure
campuses. OTI has a global network of regional
offices to market and support its products. The
company was awarded the Frost & Sullivan 2005
and 2006 Company of the Year Award in the field
of smart cards. For more information on OTI, visit
www.otiglobal.com.
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Media
Contact Leslie Beyer
Discover Financial Services LLC
lesliebeyer@discoverfinancial.com
(224) 405-5154