Regional News.(Statistical Data Included)(Product Announcement)

Europe

* Hungarian Bank Plans Smart Card: Hungary's No. 2 bank, K & H Bank, by June will launch the country's rollout of chip-based payment cards, including one of Europe's first multiapplication smart cards. The bank will issue at least 50,000 chip-based, Visa-branded debit cards this year, all complying with international EMV specifications, says bank executive Robert Nemcsics. Some cards will also carry digital certificates for secure Internet purchasing, and the bank plans to add a loyalty application next year. K & H, which is also Hungary's No. 2 merchant acquirer, will deploy about 7,000 point-of-sale terminals this year that can accept EMV cards. It will also distribute home smart card readers to roughly 3,000 consumers. "We would like to gain market share," says Nemcsics. "Even if fraud is not really big, you can communicate (promote) this as the most secure card (on the market)." The cards, produced by France-based Oberthur Card Systems, will carry Java Card and GlobalPlatform-based software. This would allow the bank to add applications after cards have been issued. K & H, which has 500,000 magnetic-stripe …