Rayleigh-based Thames Card Technology has won a four-year contract to produce BP loyalty and fuel cards for the UK and Europe.

The agreement was awarded after an online bidding process, and will involve the supply of up to 9m cards a year, which will be personalised and mailed directly to customers.

Thames Card Technology managing director Paul Underwood said: "The bidding process was transparent and allowed us to know immediately whether we had been successful. BP demands flexibility to allow it the ability to offer cards out to the market quickly."

The online tendering, hosted by FreeMarkets, was held after an initial qualifying round that ensured quality and flexibility of service.

Thames Card Technology has also become one of the elite group of UK companies to receive Visa Card accreditation, opening up the lucrative global Visa market.

Underwood said: "Visa certification allows us to manufacture and personalise Visa cards. Its a massive market and should make up a significant percentage of our sales in the coming years."

Visa representatives inspected the firms security systems and quality control procedures. Thames Card Technology has invested in an in-house vault complete with CCTV, sensors and direct link to the police which will house the Visa cards prior to despatch.

"To get Visa accreditation you have to have a host of procedures in place. We invested a lot to get everything in place, but it opens up a worldwide market for us," said Underwood.

The 150-employee firm claims to have around a 75% market share of UK customer loyalty cards and produces cards for BP, Sainsburys, Tesco and Asda.

It is also in the process of being assessed for APACS and MasterCard approval.

Story by John Davies