National Commercial Bank (NCB) of Saudi Arabia has selected digital security firm Gemalto to migrate its entire portfolio of credit cards to contactless EMV cards.
NCB, which has more than four million customers, will use Gemalto’s Clarista contactless EMV cards, which is customized to meet the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) specifications.
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NCB head of credit cards consumer finance division retail banking group Wael Abdulmoty Mohammed Hussain said: "We have chosen Gemalto to migrate our entire credit card portfolio based on the trust that has been built by the continuous dedication of their team since 2010.
"Gemalto is fully supporting NCB’s commitment to introducing the latest solutions that meet the demands of our customers for a more seamless shopping experience."
Gemalto president for Middle East & Africa Eric Claudel said: "This customized card is in line with Gemalto’s approach to consistently suit its technologies to the very specific needs of local markets. The logical next step is to consider further NFC payment technologies, including wearables, stickers and other form factors, and we confidently expect this trend to begin in Saudi Arabia in the very near future."
Two million contactless cards will be deployed in Saudi Arabia by the end of 2016, with annual growth of 25% through to 2019, according to ABI Research. The number of contactless POS terminals is predicted to grow at 57% per annum over the same period.
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