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INTERNATIONAL CARD MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF ITS SEVENTH ANNUAL CARD MANUFACTURING GLOBAL MARKET SURVEY

—North America Sees Continued Growth in Card Units, While Europe Continues As Most Lucrative Market Due to Robust Chip Card Growth—

PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ—October 25, 2005— The International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA), a global non-profit association for card manufacturers, personalizers and suppliers, announced today the results of its Seventh Annual Card Manufacturing Global Market Survey. The Survey, measuring results for 2004, revealed for the seventh consecutive year that while the North American Region leads the world in the total number of cards manufactured, Europe continues to be the most lucrative market as measured in dollars.

The survey measured numbers of cards manufactured and market volumes. Major findings revealed that globally, in 2004, approximately 13.2 billion cards were manufactured, a 13 percent growth rate. The global card marketing measure in U.S. dollars increased 33.2 percent to $8.2 billion, resulting from the impact of microprocessor chip card growth.

The regions surveyed were North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and MEA (Middle East/Africa). The products surveyed were plastic cards of all thicknesses including traditional cards—with and without magnetic stripe, and chip cards that include contact, contactless and combi - cards for diverse applications such as financial hologram cards, ID cards, telecom cards, gift cards and more.

The Survey revealed the following growth statistics:

• 13% global unit market growth to 13.2 billion cards
• 33.2 % global dollar market increase to $8.2 billion. . . impacted by microprocessor chip card growth.
• North America remains #1 in units and #4 in dollars. . .still lagging in chip card growth.

Europe is #1 in dollars and #2 in units. . .driven by microprocessor chip cards in the financial and other secure (GSM) sectors.

• Asia/Pacific card market is #2 in dollars and #3 in units. . .driven by China and chip card growth.
• Latin America is #3 in dollars.

The Survey analyzed card-specific statistics and reported the following:

• Traditional cards represent 82.6% of the units and 17.9 % of the dollars – decreases from 2004 -- while chip cards increased to 17.9% of the units and 82.1% of the dollars on a global basis.
• Non secure cards represent 42.9% of the global card unit market.
• Financial hologram cards (including those with chips) represent 11.9% of the global card unit market.
• North American unit card market remains #1 in 2004 with 52.1% share while Europe is #2 with 21.9% (both slightly decreasing from 2003) -- and Asia/Pacific is #3 with 18.7% of the unit market, an increase from 2003.
• Financial hologram units increased by 12.7% and dollars increased by 23.4% impacted by EMV migration to chip card.
• Other secure cards had significant growth with 14.5% on units and 39.9% on dollars impacted by GSM/telecom and transit chip cards. Memory chip cards (prepaid telephone) have rapidly declined in most markets.
• Non-secure units are up 13%, driven by the Loyalty and Gift card sectors.
• Chip Card units grew robustly to 2.3 billion units for a 21.9% increase, while dollars grew to $6.7 billion, influenced by GSM/Telecom growth, transit growth, EMV migration, prepaid telephone memory card rapid decline and healthcare growth.

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About ICMA

Based in Princeton Junction, NJ USA, ICMA is a non-profit association comprised of plastic card manufacturers, personalizers and related industry participants. With more than 220 members globally, representing more than 35 countries, ICMA acts as a clearinghouse for industry issues, including the production, technology, application, security and environmental issues of plastic cards. Visit the ICMA website at www.icma.com.