CardTech/SecurTech Announces Keynote Speaker

Jan. 23, 2006
John Partridge, president and CEO of Visa's Global IT Organization, to deliver keynote

NEW YORK, NY -- John Partridge, president and CEO of Inovant, the global IT arm of Visa and the world's largest processor of financial transactions, will present the opening keynote address at the 16th Annual CardTech/SecurTech (CTST) Conference being held May 2-4 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. CTST is North America's largest card technology conference covering secure payment transactions and IT and physical access security.

Named one of Network World's 50 most powerful people in networking, Mr. Partridge leads an executive team of six technologists and heads a 25-person business operating committee that funds and builds all technology initiatives at Visa. He has overall management responsibilities for Visa's global payment network, VisaNet, which clears and settles transactions from $1 trillion worth of annual sales, and oversees technology development of new payment applications and services.

Partridge's address will draw on his extensive experience at Visa, tackling complex technology issues surrounding the payments industry. The address is particularly timely and relevant, as several large U.S. credit and debit issuers are busy adding contactless technology to their payment lineup. He will discuss this technology, as well as other new and emerging technologies at the point of sale and how to maintain stringent levels of security throughout the payment system while offering innovative and flexible solutions to merchants, cardholders and financial institutions.

His address is one of many highlights at CTST 2006, which offers attendees content in two technology sectors: transaction technology and physical and logical access security. This unique format gives attendees and exhibitors two conferences in one large event. This year, the theme of the CardTech portion of the conference is "The Revolution of Contactless Technologies," with sessions focusing on the emerging technologies for payment and identity applications, such as contactless chip technology and Near Field Communications. The theme of SecurTech is "Innovations in Access Convergence," with sessions focusing on what's new in both physical and logical access, including biometrics, and the implications of these innovations for implementing a converged security system.

The keynote presentation, open to CTST conference attendees, will take place during a special lunch, 12:00 - 1:45, on Tuesday, May 2, following the Card Technology Breakthrough Awards. The exhibition hall hours are follows: Tuesday, May 2nd 4:30 - 7:30pm; Wednesday, May 3rd 10:00am - 5:00pm, and Thursday, May 4th 10:00am - 3:00pm. Registration information is available at www.ctst.com.