Smart certification for card transactions

Johannesburg, 11 Mar 2003

A local payments solutions provider has become the first to achieve Europay/Mastercard/Visa (EMV) Level Two certification with a locally developed payment application, designed to address South African requirements.

Altech Card Solutions (ACS), a subsidiary of the Altech group of companies, is a supplier of electronic funds transfer at point-of-sale terminal hardware and software solutions, and achieved the Level Two certification for its SchlumbergerSema MagIC range of terminals.

"The local migration towards EMV standards is taking place rapidly," says Derek Chaplin, MD of ACS.

Stuart Brocklehurst, senior VP of Visa for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, says local growth in this capacity is enormous. "In SA, the country has gone from having no EMV payment terminals to approximately 30 000 in the past year, and we expect there to be about 70 000 by September this year."

Chaplin says the EMV standards ensure compatibility of smart card payment-accepting devices to international specifications and the Level Two certification refers to the software aspects of processing a smart card transaction.

"The EMV certification body certifies vendors` hardware and software to ensure interoperability between smart cards and terminals on a global basis."

Cedric Edwards, a consultant for Visa, says EMV Level One certification covers the technical level - the electronics and operation of the terminal - while Level Two focuses on the interaction between the terminal and the card.

"It is often the case that an application has to be designed to address specific local needs. For example, most European countries don`t have a budget facility on their credit cards, whereas in SA we do, so certain applications would have to be tailored for this environment."

He says that to acquire the necessary EMV certificates, an organisation must submit its terminal to an accredited neutral laboratory, the majority of which are based in Europe, where it will be tested.

Chaplin says ACS`s EMV application has been certified for online/offline PIN verification and both static data authentication and dynamic data authentication. "This ensures that the application will cater for most requirements in the foreseeable future."