Prism boosts smartcard capacity

News

26 March 2003 News

Secure electronic transactions company, Prism Holdings, has become the largest 'turnkey' manufacturer of high-end smartcards on the African continent following a deal valued at more than R6-million with Cybernétix of France.

Cybernétix, one of the world's leading suppliers of automated equipment for the production of smartcards, has provided Prism with high-speed equipment which will enable the company's Springs-based chip-card fabrication plant to increase its milling and embedding capacity by 100%. In addition, Prism's SIM (subscriber identity module) personalisation capacity - the art of writing card-specific electronic data to the microprocessor chip - will increase by more than 250% to some 3000 cards per hour and a total of between one and 1,5-million completed cards per month.

Prism CEO Alvin Els says that Prism's ability to comfortably fulfil its rising production commitments to the company's local and international clients has been under increasing pressure for some time.

"This has been particularly acute in the GSM mobile telephony SIM card market. In fact, we were recently forced to sub-contract to industry partners to assist with production fulfilment. However, this was less than satisfactory as the problems associated with logistics and the complex personalisation procedure make the entire process extremely difficult to manage remotely.

"It was therefore clear that in order to meet our customers' fulfilment needs and expectations for quality, higher-volume production, we had to boost our production capacity. Cybernétix met all our criteria," he adds.

The deal will ensure that Prism is able to meet the rising demand for smartcards for the foreseeable future.

"It is our intention to build sufficient capacity to meet our direct customer pipeline," says Els. "We have no aspirations to become a general contract manufacturer of chip cards - that is not our core focus. However, we are now equipped to ensure that our banking and mobile operator clients receive consistently high levels of service in all aspects of their smartcard production needs."

For more information contact Prism Holdings 011 548 1000, www.prism.co.za

Share this article:

Vivashan Muthan appointed as head of export sales and operations at RS South Africa
RS South Africa News
With a career spanning engineering, business development, and sales leadership across sub-Saharan Africa, Vivashan Muthan brings a wealth of expertise to his new role as head of export sales and operations.

Read more...

Google equips university students across Africa with free access to advanced AI tools
News
A 12-month Google AI Pro plan has been launched for students in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe to build foundational AI skills.

Read more...

Africa’s space economy projected to be worth $22,6 billion in 2026
News
South Africa is gearing up to be at the forefront of the growth in the space industry, creating thousands of jobs, driving innovation, and boosting the national economy.

Read more...

Distribution partnership with MacDermid Alpha
Testerion News
MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions India Private Limited has announced that as of 01 September 2025 Testerion will be the sole importer and distributor of their products to the South African market.

Read more...

Categories

News

Prism boosts smartcard capacity

Further reading:

Publications by Technews