Singapore-based trusted service manager Cassis International has appointed smart card industry veteran Jean-Philippe Bétoin to take over its European operation as the company seeks to expand in Europe and take on its larger rivals on their home turf.
Cassis in Europe is going head-to-head against two other global trusted service managers, or TSMs, France-based Gemalto and Giesecke & Devrient of Germany. The three companies, among others, are vying for much-delayed business with mobile operators and service providers, such as banks, transit operators and retailers, to securely download and manage applications and related data over the air to NFC phones or other mobile-contactless devices.
Bétoin, who helped set up the first over-the-air platform to manage GSM applications on SIM cards in the mid-1990s for France-based smart card vendor Gemplus, will be charged with carrying out Cassis’ European strategy. He will expand headcount and form “partnerships” with new service providers or other companies that want to offer their own trusted management services using Cassis’ platform. These will include payment processors and issuers of coupons and tickets for entertainment venues.
