OREANDA-NEWS. Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, is supplying its bio-sourced Optelio EMV payment cards to support The Baltic Sea Project, a major environmental initiative by pioneering Scandinavian bank, Bank of Aland. Bank of ?land is making the bio-sourced Optelio cards, which are manufactured from corn-based PLA material, their primary choice. The cards are EMV certified and feature a highly creative card artwork with a front design that focuses exclusively on The Baltic Sea Project. Card account details and corporate logos have been moved to the back of the card. Gemalto is responsible for production and personalization of the cards, operating under a multi-year partnership agreement.

The environmentally sensitive cards will be further supported by the bank's new and unique 'Aland-index'. This provides a carbon footprint calculation for every transaction which is digitally reported to the customer monthly, along with an invitation to offset these CO2 emissions. They will be issued to customers making new account applications, and when existing cards expire.

"Gemalto was the world's first supplier of a bio-sourced payment card and has a proven track record for the successful deployment of this ground-breaking product," said Peter Wikl?f, CEO at Bank of ?land. "They are clearly committed to the values of The Baltic Sea Project, and our new partnership opens the door to further joint green initiatives."

"The Baltic Sea Project is a vital initiative, raising awareness of the threat posed to the environment at the very heart of the Bank of ?land community," said Philippe Cambriel, President for Europe, Mediterranean and CIS at Gemalto. "Our broader Green Banking portfolio also offers extensive potential to build on the carbon footprint reduction delivered by the bio-sourced Optelio cards."

The Bank of Aland is a bank with strong customer relationships and personal service. The Bank has extensive financial investment expertise and at the same time can offer good financing services. The commercial bank was founded in 1919 and has been listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Oy (Helsinki Stock Exchange) since 1942. The Bank of Aland's Head Office is in Mariehamn. The Bank has five offices in the ?land Islands, five offices elsewhere in Finland and three offices in Sweden. A total of three subsidiaries, whose operations are connected in various ways to banking, belong to the Bank of Aland Group.

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the global leader in digital security, with 2015 annual revenues of €3.1 billion and customers in over 180 countries. We bring trust to an increasingly connected world.

Our technologies and services enable businesses and governments to authenticate identities and protect data so they stay safe and enable services in personal devices, connected objects, the cloud and in between.

Gemalto's solutions are at the heart of modern life, from payment to enterprise security and the internet of things. We authenticate people, transactions and objects, encrypt data and create value for software – enabling our clients to deliver secure digital services for billions of individuals and things.

Our 14,000+ employees operate out of 118 offices, 45 personalization and data centers, and 27 research and software development centers located in 49 countries.