Thales, market leader in electronic payment solutions, set for leadership position in Middle East

The company, which is participating in the Cards Middle East Exhibition in Dubai, currently holds three out of five acquiring banks (60 per cent market share) in the UAE, 100 per cent in Kuwait and 35 per cent in Saudi Arabia.

"Thales has been a dominant player in the card terminal business in the Middle East for a long time and we are now more committed than ever to become the leading name in point of sale equipment in the Middle East," said Christian Reiling, Managing Director, North & Central Europe, Thales. "The region is witnessing a significant growth in the number of credit card usage. Coupled with this, there has been a steady rise in the number of visitors and tourists. This makes the region vulnerable to credit card fraud."

"Thales is now set to launch state of the art products that offer full security. Our machines are fully equipped to handle the EMV chip-cards which are set to become the standard because they can prevent fraud," said Reiling. "We are also launching portable GSM terminals that can be used for deliveries, taxis and at places like petrol stations, eliminating the need for paying cash."

Bank and merchant representatives will have the opportunity to see for themselves the latest in the Artema range. The Artema Compact is an all-in-one terminal with an integrated PINpad. It combines a sleek, compact design with robust ergonomics and provides merchants with a highly reliable and easy-to-use product with a small footprint.

The Artema Compact has a high performance 32-bit processor, and large memory capacity, allowing fast EMV chip transactions, as well as supporting value-added applications such as gift and loyalty cards, cheque services, age verification and electronic purse.

James Davis, Vice President, Middle East, Thales e-Transactions, said: "In Europe, credit card fraud is a major problem. In the UK, for example, the loss incurred by banks due to credit card fraud was over Euro 800 million in 2002. The Middle East is already facing such problems and all parties need to take precautions to prevent frauds. The card payment solutions of Thales are aimed at helping curb malpractices, particularly because of the mandatory migration to chip-based cards that is underway."

"Globally, there has been a liability shift in the credit card business. The liability has now shifted to the merchant and it is in his interest to invest in secure systems," added Davis. "Thales is at the forefront of initiatives to curb malpractices in credit cards and is poised to enhance its market penetration in the Middle East by providing the most advanced solutions for banks as well as merchants."

Oma Emirates LLC is the exclusive distributor of Thales e-Transactions equipments in the UAE. There are over 9,000 Thales terminals in the UAE, Oman and Qatar.

Abana Enterprises is the exclusive distributor of Thales e-Transactions equipments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Kuwait.