NW_20020515_en_Telecom City Tradeshow_ VASCO and Element Jointly Offer Secure Online Shopping

BRUSSELS, Belgium, Telecom City Tradeshow – May 15, 2002 – VASCO Data Security International (Nasdaq NM & Nasdaq Europe:VDSI: www.vasco.com), a global provider of enterprise-wide security products that support e-business, and Element, a leading European company focused on e-payments (www.element.be), today announced that they have created a convenient and secure way for payment over the Internet, integrating Elements ProxyPay³ payment platform and VASCO’s Digipass. Every type of Digipass can be used in conjunction with ProxyPay³. The usage of Digipass Pro 800, however, is recommended due to its smart card reading abilities. The solution will be presented to the market at the Telecom City Tradeshow in Brussels, Heysel, VASCO Hall 5 Booth # 5013.

The Element-VASCO combination is extremely user friendly. When a cardholder purchases goods on a merchants’ site, ProxyPay³ receives a payment request and sends a payment template to the Cardholders’ browser. A browser plug-in then generates a challenge code. The cardholder then inserts his credit card into his Digipass Pro 800 and enters his PIN and the challenge code into the Digipass, which generates an electronic signature. After the cardholder enters the electronic signature into the ProxyPay payment template, the transaction is validated and processed.

About ProxyPay:
Element’s solution is based on the ProxyPay3 payment platform . Its special security features make existing payment systems on the Internet more adaptable to specific demands, without losing the aspect of security. The solution uses UCAF (Universal Cardholder Authentication Field) to transport Cardholder authentication data to the Issuer while authorising the transaction.
ProxyPay’s modular and flexible architecture ensures that future implementations of other credit card payment methods can be put into service without having to change the entire system. Financial Institutions can authorise, capture, route and settle all card-based transactions on the Internet, in a customisable way. It makes virtual payments easy, trouble-free and secure.

About Digipass Pro 800:
Digipass Pro 800 is a secure, intelligent, universal platform that extends strong authentication and digital signature capabilities to all market-leading smart cards, enabling existing smart card environments to give safe and flexible access to banking applications. As a hand-held and platform-independent device, the Digipass 800 functions as a fully portable “security portal” that eliminates the need for a smart card reader and software for any smart card holder.

About VASCO
VASCO secures the enterprise from the mainframe to the Internet with infrastructure solutions that enable secure e-business and e-commerce, protect sensitive information, and safeguard the identity of users. The Company's family of Digipass® and VACMAN® products offers end-to-end security through strong authentication, digital signature, network Single Sign-On, and Radius, LAN and Web security, while sharply reducing the time and effort required to deploy and manage security. VASCO's customers include hundreds of financial institutions, blue-chip corporations, and government agencies in more than 50 countries. More information is available at www.vasco.com.


About Element
Element NV, with its headquarters in Gits, Belgium, is a leading European company focused on e-payments. Using exceptional competence and expertise, Element provides developing, integration and consulting services to implement e-payments in e-commerce, m-commerce and t-commerce solutions. Developing payment solutions, based on advanced concepts, Element supplies core products enabling e-payments for merchants and customers anywhere and at any time.

Forward Looking Statements
Statements made in this news release that relate to future plans, events or performances are forward-looking statements. Any statement containing words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” and similar words, is forward-looking, and these statements involve risks and uncertainties and are based on current expectations. Consequently, actual results could differ materially from the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements.

Reference is made to the Company's public filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for further information regarding the Company and its operations.


For more information contact:

VASCO:

Media:
Jochem Binst, +32 2 456 9810, [email protected]
Investor Relations:
Annemieke Blondeel, USA +1 630 932 8844, Europe +44 20 8298 99 60, [email protected]


Element NV:

Ronny Leplae
Element NV
CEO
Tel. + 32 51 24 87 42
Fax + 32 51 24 67 63
[email protected]

Michael Kolatchev
Element NV
Vice-President Mobile Commerce
CTO
Tel. + 32 51 24 87 42
Fax + 32 51 24 67 63
[email protected]

Tom Espeel
Element NV
Marketing and Communication Officer
Tel. + 32 51 24 87 42
Fax + 32 51 24 67 63
[email protected]