Regulatory News:

XIRING (Paris:ALXIR), a security solutions provider for remote transactions announces that it has won the tender launched by the French Public Sector Buying Group, Union des Groupements d'Achats Publics (UGAP), to enable administrations and public institutions to acquire the easy-to-use le Point Xiring solution for updating Vitale personal healthcare benefit cards.

UGAP is France's only public sector generalist buying group and acts primarily on behalf of local authorities, hospitals and government departments. In its traditional "buying and reselling" capacity, UGAP offers simple and straightforward procedures for public sector procurement. It also procures supplies and services for public sector clients and takes charge of order fulfillment and the complete supplier relationship. By using the services of UGAP, which itself is subject to the public sector purchasing code for all competitive bidding, public sector buyers are relieved of their responsibilities to comply with this code.

In response to growing needs on the part of its clients and in order to provide them with a state-of-the-art service for updating Vitale cards, UGAP has chosen le Point XIRING V2 following a hotly-contested bidding process. This solution has been designed with, and for, healthcare professionals and has SESAM-Vitale approval. In record time, le Point XIRING V2 enables both the Vitale 1 and Vitale 2 cards to be updated. Moreover, it is also ready to handle the complementary healthcare benefits cards of tomorrow.

The umbrella contract covers individual orders placed by healthcare professionals. XIRING has been awarded the contract for an initial 3-year period with the possibility of a 3-year renewal. The quantity of le Point XIRING V2 solutions to be supplied under the contract is estimated at 3,000 applications. The contract makes it easier for public sector buyers (hospitals, public institutions and administrations) seeking to procure a significant number of le Point XIRING V2 to process their orders directly with UGAP.

Le Point XIRING V2 offers a complete service that includes the provision of a terminal, 6/7 days telephone support, hardware and software maintenance and daily management of the terminal fleet and the parameters that guarantee system security. Vitale card updating operations are completed online with the processing centers of the various obligatory or complementary healthcare insurance providers. XIRING is offering its le Point XIRING V2 service exclusively on a 12, 24, 36 or 48 months rental basis.

"Over 15 000 healthcare professionals have already opted for our le Point XIRING V2 service for updating Vitale cards and we are proud to have been chosen by UGAP. This referencing offers us access to a wider market, as well as simplifying purchasing procedures for equipping public institutions, and notably hospitals.", commented Franck Favier, Healthcare Business Unit Director at XIRING.

About UGAP:

As a tool for streamlining public sector purchasing, the Public Sector Buying Group (Union des Groupements d'Achats Publics - UGAP) is France's only public sector generalist buying group. As a state-owned industrial and trading company (Établissement Public Industriel et Commercial (EPIC), UGAP operates in 2 distinct ways: by providing public entities with supplies and services (purchasing for resale function), or by providing public entities with contracts or framework agreements (purchasing operator function). UGAP's clients are exclusively public sector entities or private sector entities providing a public service. Around 53% of UGAP's business is conducted on behalf of local authorities, 42% on behalf of government departments and 5% on behalf of private sector clients providing a public service.

UGAP receives no state subsidies and operates in a totally competitive environment.

More information available at: http://www.achats-publics.fr - http://prd1.ugap.fr

About XIRING

Created in 1998, XIRING is a security solutions provider and develops security software embedded in smart card readers for strong authentication and digital signature. XIRING has distributed over 10 million strong authentication solutions based on banking cards and compliant with MasterCard and Visa programs, and is the leader of the professional solutions market for the SESAM-Vitale French healthcare scheme. In 2008, XIRING posted a turnover of €12.9 million up 20% and an operating margin of €3.5 million up 62%. XIRING is listed on the Alternext compartment of the NYSE-Euronext Paris exchange since September 18, 2006. ISIN code: FR0004155612, Mnemonic: ALXIR.

More information:  

http://www.xiring.com

http://www.remotecardauthentication.info

http://www.homechipandpin.co.uk

XIRING
Leslie Jung
pressoffice@xiring.com
Tel: +33 (0)1 46 25 80 80
or
HOTWIRE - PR UK
Louisa Excell
Louisa.Excell@Hotwirepr.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7608 2500