Apr 12 2007
CPI Card Group, one of the major North American secure card manufacturers, announced today the successful completion of FIPS 201 independent testing of their card stock.
The certified PIV cards, manufactured in the secure CPI facility located in Littleton, Colorado, will be offered to the Administration. The cards are composite based, which gives them a lifespan of more than 5 years. They are compatible with laser engraving and personalization with hot temperature equipment. Due to their solid construction, the cards kept their integrity after the 'paint shaker' test which is considered the most demanding test for all plastic cards.
The tested cards are all active smart cards based on Atmel's AT90SC144144CT and AT90SC12872RCFT smartcard chips. "We are confident that the CPI product in conjunction with the proven performance of our highly secure microcontrollers will bring significant value to PIV cards and will reinforce Atmel's strong leadership position in government and security markets," commented John Bryant, Vice President of Marketing for the company.
CPI has been producing ID cards for different institutions in several countries for over ten years. Among other awards including the 2006 Smart Card Entrepreneurial Company of the Year, CPI recently won the Elan Award for Card Manufacturing Excellence in the Best I.D. Card Design category during the International Card Manufacturers Association Annual Card Manufacturing EXPO that took place in Athens, Greece last fall.
During the last two years CPI has intensively invested in the setup of a US based solution for the manufacturing of the high value PIV cards that are requested within the HSPD 12 environment. "We understand how important it is for the Administration to control the origin of the PIV cards and we are extremely happy to be able to offer this 'best in the class' product made in our Colorado facility today," declared Bob Clarke, Executive Vice President. "The CPI construction is responding to this concern and we are proud to share with the market that we passed all tests with excellent results and are now ready to produce."