Back in 1981, STN was already in the On-line service business

In 1981, Minitel was offered free of charge by France Telecom, the national phone service provider. STN was one of the first On-line content editors ever to sell subscription access to its services.

As is still the case, content was the essential element to building a very profitable business. At that time, STN published on-line games, etc. (all businesses were sold 20 years ago !).

24 years ago : The first secure On-line payment system

This is an actual picture of the first smart-card ever used to access and pay for usage of on-line services (very few of these historic smart-cards exist!)
 

STN created the "GIE Services Payants Télétel" with American Express, SNCF (French Railroads), Banks, etc. Louis Bonnet-Madin, as GIE's Chairman, distributed the first pre-paid smart card back in 1982, in association with France Telecom in Blois.