Netsize and Cityzencar Simplify Peer-to-Peer Car Sharing with Innovative Use of SMS

AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Netsize, a leading mobile commerce enabler and a Gemalto company (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), announces that CityzenCar, a peer-to-peer car sharing social network in France, has deployed its SMS-based communication solution to secure and simplify car rental for consumers. CityzenCar enables 12,000 members across 2,000 French cities to rent a vehicle in complete trust and with no commission.

“We wanted to make it as easy as possible for our customers to interact with each other and make the best use of our service, “ commented Nicolas le Douarec, CEO, CityzenCar, “Netsize’s flexible and highly dependable SMS solution is crucial to ensure the quality of our service.”

The Netsize SMS communication solution supports the entire rental process, from renter validation to rental notifications, as well as confirming booking details. It works on any handset and is compatible with all wireless networks, guaranteeing 100 percent reach so CityzenCar customers can use the service anywhere, anytime.

Car owners will be notified of each rental request by SMS and if they approve it, the driver will receive a text message on their mobile phone containing details of the car and location. The car owner can then choose to either deliver the keys to the driver in person or authorize CityzenCar to unlock the car doors. This innovative and convenient unlocking system is made possible by the “CityzenBox”, an embedded telematic device that sits within the car.

“We wanted to make it as easy as possible for our customers to interact with each other and make the best use of our service, “ commented Nicolas le Douarec, CEO, CityzenCar, “Netsize’s flexible and highly dependable SMS solution is crucial to ensure the quality of our service.”

“CityzenCar is ahead of the curve in its innovative use of technology to engage with customers. SMS is ideal where mobility is key as customers can be reached while on the move. It is also exceptionally interoperable, providing us with a far wider end-user reach,” said Frédéric Deman, General Manager, Netsize.

About Netsize, a Gemalto Company

Netsize is the leading provider of global mobile carrier billing and messaging solutions, enabling its customers to boost mobile services revenues while increasing business efficiency and brand awareness.

Netsize‘s Mobile Payment solution covers 50 countries and 136 wireless networks worldwide and enables mobile commerce, integrating all available carrier billing methods, including direct billing. It supports both pay per use and recurring, subscription-based transactions. Netsize Mobile Messaging provides reliable, secure and certified bi-directional communication using SMS and MMS in over 200 countries, enabling enterprise messaging, mobile marketing and machine-to-machine applications.

Netsize is part of Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security with revenues of €1.9 billion in 2010, and over 10 thousand employees operating out of 87 offices and 13 Research & Development centers in 45 countries.

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2010 annual revenues of €1.9 billion and over 10,000 employees operating out of 87 offices and 13 Research & Development centers in 45 countries.

Gemalto is at the heart of our evolving digital society. Billions of people worldwide increasingly want the freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain, and work—anytime, anywhere, in ways that are convenient, enjoyable and secure. Gemalto delivers on the growing demands for personal mobile services, identity protection, payment security, authenticated online services, cloud computing access, modern transportation, e-healthcare and e-government services. Gemalto does this by providing secure software, a wide range of secure personal devices, and managed services to wireless operators, banks, enterprises and government agencies.

Gemalto is the world leader for electronic passports and identity cards, two-factor authentication devices for online protection, smart credit/debit and contactless payment cards, as well as subscriber identification modules (SIM) and universal integrated circuit cards (UICC) in mobile phones. Also, in the emerging machine-to-machine applications Gemalto is a leading supplier of wireless modules and machine identification modules (MIM). To operate these solutions and remotely manage the software and confidential data contained in the secure devices Gemalto also provides server platforms, consulting, training, and managed services to help its customers achieve their goals.

As the use of Gemalto’s software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the Company is poised to thrive over the coming years.

For more information visit www.gemalto.com, www.justaskgemalto.com, blog.gemalto.com, or follow @gemalto on Twitter.