Lipman Electronic Engineering Ltd (LPMA) (LPMA)

[midastouch017]

Lipman's NURIT 8000 Used by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to Launch EMV Initiative

Wednesday January 18, 9:15 am ET

ROSH HAAYIN, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2006--Lipman Electronic Engineering Ltd. (Nasdaq, TASE: LPMA) today announced that its terminals were used to launch the EMV initiative of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), one of the leading banks in that country. On December 16, 2005, ICBC and MasterCard International held a joint ceremony to introduce the Peony MasterCard, the first EMV chip-based card available in China.

EMV is the uniform technology standard for bank chip card debit/credit applications jointly established by the international credit card organizations of Europay, MasterCard and Visa. The chip card has independent functions for, among other things, operation, encryption and decipherment. Its safety is higher than magnetic cards as it effectively prevents transactions with false or counterfeit cards and safeguards the funds of the cardholder.

Lipman has been working closely with ICBC on this EMV migration, from development through implementation. In addition, Lipman was selected to work with ICBC on an EMV pilot project at one of the bank's branches in the Shandong Province of China. Several of Lipman's leading NURIT products were used during these evaluation and pilot projects, including the NURIT 8320 landline and NURIT 8000 wireless POS terminals, as well as the NURIT 222 Secure PIN Pad.

Lipman is one of the first POS terminal vendors with products meeting the EMV requirements of both ICBC and China UnionPay, the country's leading financial institutions, and certified by MasterCard TIP, Visa ADVT, and JCB J/Smart.

Lazy Yanay, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing of Lipman, said, "We are extremely pleased that our NURIT 8000, NURIT 8320 and NURIT 222 were selected to be a part of this milestone event in the Chinese banking industry. The commencement of ICBC's EMV initiative marks a significant development in the payments industry in China. The country is poised for tremendous growth in the use of credit and debit cards, both in anticipation of the upcoming Beijing Olympics and to support the overall increase in non-cash transactions. We are proud to be working with both ICBC and China UnionPay, the country's two leading finance organizations, on their overall POS terminal rollout efforts and, more specifically, their EMV migration initiatives."

Mr. Yanay continued, "We have long believed that the Chinese market represents a substantial growth opportunity for Lipman. While we have historically enjoyed a strong position in this market, it has not yet shown the high growth expected given its potential size. With the efforts by banks to build their infrastructure in advance of the 2008 Olympics and the shift to EMV now underway, we are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and believe that Lipman will remain at the forefront of this sizeable market as it evolves."

About Lipman

Lipman is a leading worldwide provider of electronic payment systems. Lipman develops, manufactures and markets a variety of handheld, wireless and landline POS terminals, electronic cash registers, retail ATM units, PIN pads and smart card readers, as well as integrated PIN and smart card ("Chip & PIN") solutions. In addition, Lipman develops technologically advanced software platforms that offer comprehensive and customized transaction processing solutions for its customers, as well as managed professional services such as on-site and call-center support with remote terminal management.

Lipman's corporate headquarters and R&D facilities are located in Israel. Lipman also maintains offices in the US, United Kingdom, Turkey, China, Spain, Finland, Russia, Italy, Canada and Latin America. For more information visit www.lipman.biz

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