METRO

What happens if a card is
7- stolen or lost? Once notified, the
operating company will immedi-
ately place the card number on a
blacklist. Because it has a read-
and-write mechanism, the read-
ing part of the product will "shoot
the card electronically" if acti-
vated by an unauthorized person,
converting it to a piece of plastic
scrap, says Mr. Tziperman. As an
extra precaution, the card's mem-
ory can be imprinted with an im-
age of the user's fingerprint. The
user would have to touch a fin-
gerprint reading device before use
for certain applications, like draw-
ing cash.
In South America, potential
customers asked OTI represen-
tatives what would happen if a
thief were to cut off a card hold-
er's thumb, a phenomenon not
\--,
unheard of where ring snatchers

a contactless card with a micro-
processor on board, but Tziper-
man says it is very limited in its
abilities.
"You are talking about being
able to transfer enough energy to
the card in order to activate a so-
phisticated microprocessor, and
none of the others have this," Mr.
Tziperman says.
In 1995, OTI's first year of in-
ternational sales, revenues were
$1.7 million. This year they are
expected to reach $12-$20 million.
Its first foreign sales have been
to gasoline management compa-
nies. Aided by Israeli marketing
company PUSH, OTI has just
inked two major deals worth $50
million over five years to supply
its systems to BP (which has al-
ready installed them in South
Africa) and to France's Total oil
company.
Subsidiary Easy
Park also won a
large Israeli public
tender recently for
a national, elec-
tronic curbside
parking-card sys-
tem. Tests on its
smart transporta-
tion ticket are un-
derway in China
and South Ameri-
ca.
OTI is keenly
aware of its lack of
marketing exper-
tise, the character-
istic deficiency of
almost all Israeli
high-tech companies. "We
couldn't cover the entire world
with so many applications," says
Mr. Tziperman. Instead, OTI will
enter strategic collaboration
agreements and license propri-
etary rights. "We intend to re-
main an original equipment
manufacturers body. This means
that we will merely supply our
special components, establishing
ties with system houses all over
the world who will do the local
marketing, installation and main-
tenance." he adds.
Last July, OTI successfully
completed an $8 million interna-
tional institutional private place-
ment through Credit Lyonnais
Securities, based on a company
valuation of $63 million. OTI's
workers and founders hold 60
percent and Israeli group Astra
holds 25 percent.
Mr. Tziperman doesn't rule out
a Wall Street share flotation. "But
it won't be in the near future and,
if we do one, it will be more for
strategic reasons than financial,"
he says. "At the moment, the
kitty is full."
Mr. Bashan adds that apart
from CSK, there are "still more"
major deals in the pipeline. "I
hope there will be one every few
weeks," he says.
If so, the upstart Rosh Pina
company will definitely be on
track. ❑

are sometimes part of the land-
\-- scape. However, the company
says the card's fingerprint iden-
tifier can also detect blood circu-
lation and would not respond to
a dead thumb.
The technology holds particu-
lar allure for the financial and
banking industries, ensuring that
revenues from small purchases
— like parking-lot fees, tolls,
newspaper stands and vending
machines — go through the bank-
ing system, generating profits for
the bank in the same way that
credit cards generate income for
their parent companies.
While contactless smartcards
have been on the market two or
three years already, current mar-
ket leaders Philips and Sony use
ASIC (wire logic) components in
their smartcards. Unlike OTI's
cards, smartcards using ASIC
components cannot be updated
or revised and must be physical-
ly replaced in order to add or
change any application.
OTI's contactless smartcard
incorporates a microprocessor on
board, with a sophisticated op-
erating system enabling revi-
sion, expansion and changes to
the number of applications with-
\,--) out having to replace the card it-
self. Another extra, encryption
coding, offers a higher level of se-
curity and higher operating
speed.
U.S. company Racom also has (c) Jerusalem Post 1997

0 !

OTHER DE LER SELLS FOR ES4

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* All prices plus tax, title, plate, lic., doc., and destination and acquisition fees. Leases all require 1st mo. & sec. dep. plus down pymt. Based on conventional financing. To get pymt. multiply by no. of
mos. Option to purchase at lease end for predetermined amt. Price determined at lease inception. 15,000 milelyr. limit on leases. 11c per mile excess (12,000 miles/yr. limit on Import leases, 10c
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And The Staff Of
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Wish Everyone A
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