THE KUDELSKI GROUP AND POSTFINANCE LAUNCH INNOVATIVE PROJECT FOR ELECTRONIC TICKETS

Cheseaux, August 23rd 2004 - The Kudelski Group and PostFinance are working together on the future electronic ticket. As part of a pilot project which will take place between December 2004 and April 2005, Postcards will be equipped with a contactless electronic chip. It will be possible to download access rights to cultural and sporting events, ski-lifts, etc. onto the chip and access the selected venues using the card. The traditional paper ticket will be superfluous.

Electronic tickets represent a strong market trend : instead of having numerous tickets for every possible event, consumers can use just one single electronic card to access sports facilities (such as stadia), cultural events and ski-lifts, once they have acquired the corresponding access rights over the Internet. Payment is debited against their personal postal account.

Such a system offers many advantages : increased comfort and greater simplicity in acquiring and paying for tickets and, for organizers, optimized access control processes.

The Kudelski Group, and more specifically companies of the "Public Access" division - Ticketcorner and AccessArena - are bringing to this project their expertise in the area of ticketing and multi-functional card technologies.

The pilot project will serve to demonstrate the possibilities of an electronic ticketing system as well as its acceptance by consumers and operators. In case of success with the users, this technology will be made available to all Postcard holders.

Contact :

Charles Egli
Executive Vice President Kudelski Group
CEO Nagra Public Access
Tel. 021 732 03 04