Card Services International (CSI), the Dun Laoghaire-based smart card software company, has announced capital investments amounting to $3 million (#2.5million).

CSI's current capital venture parter, ICC Software Partners, and JAFCO, Japan's largest venture capital firm are investors in the fund which is being used to strengthen CSI's position as a leading supplier of smart card solutions to the international banking and airline industry.

Smart card solutions are seen as the most effective means of safeguarding electronic commerce and financial transactions on the Internet

Among CSI's customers are British Airways, the major Irish banks, Visa International and Europay, and banks in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South America. The six-year-old company also has offices in the US and Africa.

The world's largest producer of smart cards, Gemplus, has a 15 per cent interest in CSI. Its core product CardBASE2000(R) is recognised by the industry as one of the most advanced smart card management system available.

The world's largest producer of smart cards is the French company, Gemplus, which has a strategic worldwide agreement with IBM who assist with marketing and implementation of the smart card solutions.

Mr Aengus Geraghty, CSI's chief executive, said the involvement of a Japanese company was part of a strategy which included developing a presence in Asian markets. "Our involvement with JAFCO provides the credibility to bid for profitable business with major banks and airlines in the region," he said.

He added that the Japanese had a clear understanding of the importance of smart cards in the rapidly developing electronic commerce market.

"Future CSI product developments will benefit from this understanding and we expect to announce a number of exciting new products in 1999," he said.