The Smart Cards & Terminal division of Compagnie des Machines Bull SA has clinched a deal to supply its Amadeo payment terminals to Russian Credit bank Rossiiskyi Credit. Bull will supply 1,300 of the terminals that will be installed at the bank’s customer retail outlets. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. The terminals will be installed in 10 of Russia’s main cities, including Moscow and St Petersburg. Bull is aiming to have 700 of the terminals installed by July, and the remaining 600 by December. The Amadeo terminals have 3Mb of memory, an online help service and a silent thermal printer, which generates six lines of print a second. It can be used either as a conventional Pin-Pad or electronic purse, as well as being able to run applications such as loyalty and health cards. But the terminals will use magnetic strip cards, and not smart cards as one may expect. According to Bull, the Russian telecommunications system is not yet sophisticated enough to cope with microprocessor cards. Bull commands a 25% leading share of the electronic terminal market in Europe, and is especially strong in Southern Europe, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. On a global basis, Bull sits in fourth place and has successfully penetrated the Latin American market. It has 650,000 electronic payment terminals installed across the world. The French company has provided payment terminals to other Russian banks in the past, and does have the odd smart card project under way in the country. But, the Czech Republic, Hungary and the Commonwealth of Independent States have shown more interest in the smart card space.
