"It also confirms that indeed the UK government is true to its word that its buying behaviours and patterns would change," she said.

"Gemalto is a global player, so is not a newcomer to the secure identity card market, but this might be their first UK government contract. It's certainly a big win for them."

The DVLA will begin deploying Gemalto's Sealys line of products from 2013.

An shows that the company worked with DVLA to develop a secure photocard driving licence using technologies from Trb, a Swiss supplier of secure cards, and Mhlbauer, a German supplier secure-card manufacturing machinery.

Under the incumbent contract, IBM helped to develop a polycarbonate, non-chip card that met EU standards, but could also feature a chip to make it a smartcard in the future.