eCompany Payment Technologies (a division of eCompany Holdings) and Net1 Applied Technology Holdings Limited (APLITEC), have announced that they have formed a strategic alliance to offer an integrated payment solution that allows secure business-to-business transactions to take place, over the Internet via a UEPS Smart Card.
A breakthrough in Internet Smart Card technology, this turnkey offering will allow businesses to perform a variety of virtual transactions, including transfers, downloading of statements and uploading of completed transactions to a company bank account, via the multi-application Net1 Smart Card.
According to Serge Belamant, APLITEC`s chief executive officer, "eCompany was contracted by APLITEC`s subsidiary Net1 Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd., to design, specify and build an Internet-enabled version of the Universal Electronic Payment System (UEPS)."
"By combining the skills of eCompany and APLITEC, in terms of payment processing technology and Smart Card applications, we believe that we have produced a world first in Smart Card technology," says Derek McCallum, APLITEC`s technical senior general manager.
The Net1 Smart Card is able to store up to 255 separately configurable wallets, and can be used for closed or open group applications. Also inherent in this product is the tried and tested world-leading security system that forms the core of the UEPS, as defined in the Funds Transfer System "FTS" patents. Net1 Smart Cards are also able to support biometric fingerprint identification, and Microsoft standard drivers are utilised as part of the system.
"The Net1 Smart Card is beyond forward thinking," says Mark Berman, Senior Systems Engineer of the Microsoft Enterprise Group, "eCompany and APLITEC have tapped into a sector of the market that has positioned them as the driving force in Smart Card technology."
Berman expects the next step will be to integrate the technology behind the Net 1 Smart Card into the Windows operating system for Smart Cards.
A further feature is a continuous debit facility, which according to McCallum introduces a "pay-as-you-go" functionality for the Internet, whereby money is deducted from pre-paid cards for every page viewed on the Web.
The payment processing technology integrated into the Net1 Smart Card is based on eCompany`s payment product, iVeri which allows for electronic, real time processing of financial transactions over the Internet.
According to Barry Coetzee, CEO of eCompany Payment Technologies, "We have now added a further dimension to iVeri through the integration of Smart Card technology, which we are co-marketing internationally with APLITEC."
"A progressive approach toward e-commerce solutions has resulted in a beneficial relationship for both companies, and we foresee that the technology behind the multi-application Net1 Smart Card will influence and enhance virtual business-to-business transactions on a global scale," concludes Coetzee.
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