Blue chip Nampak Limited has taken a firm leap into the digital economy with the reorganisation and formation of a secure IT solutions company, named NamITech, which includes the former BDM Technologies.
The new division will be under the chairmanship of current Nampak executive director Rex Tomlinson.
Although NamITech is "a proud member of the Nampak group", it is positioned distinctively and deliberately away from any "packaging" association, says Tomlinson. He adds that new corporate identity for NamITech and ending the various company names "with a zee, as the Americans say" will all contribute to a unique brand personality. "One of the most common questions I get asked, is why a traditionally packaging focussed group is getting involved in the IT solutions arena. The short answer is that we have both the capacity and the credentials to do so."
Tomlinson emphasises that the origins of NamITech are considerably different from those of most other IT companies. NamITech is not a "cobbled together" series of businesses intended to constitute an IT group. It comprises rather, several existing focused companies, with individual good track records, proven financial performance and superb future prospects. He emphasises that NamITech is a natural and logical evolution in a business with strong financial muscle behind it, and a vision for serving customers in as integrated a way as possible, for the future.
NamITech`s history dates back to 1971 when it started out as a provider of secure payment mechanisms encompassing cheques, drafts and later, magstripe plastic cards. It has evolved into a technology business, with the ability to provide a full range of secure solutions for authentication and payment.
Smart card focus
Its first step into the technology world began with the establishment of a smart card operation together with Naspers, and global technology partners Giesecke and Devrient of Munich and ORGA of Paderborn, Germany, in 1995, for the then emerging GSM market
Today NamITech`s focus lies primarily in smart card enabled business solutions, leveraging the explosive growth in pre-paid solutions and the fast emerging e-payments arena. The company enjoys considerable intellectual capital in these areas and will continue to invest in securing technological leadership both through partnering and acquisitions, says Tomlinson.
Tomlinson comments that NamITprepaidz, a newly renamed subsidiary, is positioned to benefit from the burgeoning trend towards "pre-paid everything" and is ideally positioned to exploit these opportunities. It currently supplies recharge vouchers to SA`s largest cellular operator and also sells to an ever-growing number of African operators.
The Card Business Solutionz division provides a one-stop business solution for customers. Within this division, NamITcardz is the largest manufacturer of magnetic stripe cards in Africa with VISA, MasterCard and ISO accreditation. Integrated Card Technology is a smart card solutions business that has a state of the art ISO certified manufacturing facility, together with expertise in research and development and smart card systems design. It also provides conceptual design of smart card solutions involving the interface to terminals and into back office business systems.
A newly created e-Payment Solutionz division will seek to provide business-driven secure and integrated solutions to a growing e-business market. Tomlinson concludes that security and convenience are key enablers in the success of e-business and NamITech is ideally positioned to facilitate this process.
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