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| Subject: In December 2000 Proton World announced the opening of a new division, Proton World Americas | |
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Author: BANKING TECH Ducato include Europay-now Mastercard |
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Date Posted: 03:20:58 12/29/02 Sun http://www.obcebdbh.be/import_en/info-center/beci-reviews/2000/se-banking-technologies/part1_en.html Special Edition 2000/3 BANKING TECHNOLOGIES Belgium at the forefront of automation and security Part 1: By way of introduction… The backdrop to a radical transformation Banks, major players in the information society which is gradually taking shape, are in the midst of radical transformation. Even more than other sectors, they are having to adapt to the ongoing changes in their environment. And in this case it is not just a question of the introduction of the euro and of the arrival of the new millennium. For a long time banking was underpinned by the same elements, i.e. primarily a network of branches, current and savings accounts and the granting of credit. Nowadays, consumers can choose to carry out their banking transactions in many different ways, at any time of day or night and from anywhere in the world. There is no longer any need for them to visit their branch personally in order to have access to financial services. The new access modes take the form of ATMs (automatic teller machines), bank cards (debit and credit) and telephone and internet banking services. This increase in banking services distribution channels has resulted in cutthroat competition among financial institutions, especially as consumers no longer have any hesitation in changing banks and are happy to ‘shop around’ for financial services. This means that banks now have to be innovative in order to remain competitive. It also means that they are required to invest heavily in information technologies. For a bank's strength nowadays is less its network of branches than its computer network… Such, in outline, are the main features of the transformation occurring in the financial world internationally. In the pages which follow, we invite you to discover Belgium's contribution to this technological boom. Part 2: Automation of Payments - Belgium ahead of the field... BELGIAN BANKER's ASSOCIATION (ABB) ISABEL SWIFT EUROPAY INTERNATIONAL BANKSYS PROTON WORLD INTERNATIONAL VERHAERT Belgian Bankers' Association (ABB) Belgium has long been at the forefront of the automation of payments field. There is abundant evidence attesting to this fact. Belgian credit institutions dispensed with paper for the processing of cheques and bank transfers very early on, using data interchange techniques instead. CEC, the clearing house which handles the automatic processing of payment operations involving small amounts within the Bank of Belgium, celebrated the 25th anniversary of its founding in 1999. As long ago as 1971, Belgian banks adopted the structured account number as a prelude to automation (3 digits identifying the credit institution, 7 digits identifying the account and 2 control digits). A comparable system, set up on the Belgian model, will soon be in force at world level, with the advent of the IBAN (International Bank Account Number). Established by the European Committee for Banking Standards (ECBS) under the presidency of the Belgian Bankers' Association (ABB), the IBAN consists of the country code, two control digits and the present national account number. It is due to enter into force at European level by 2002, after the introduction of euro coins and notes. ASSOCIATION BELGE DES BANQUES (ABB) (BELGIAN BANKERS' ASSOCIATION) Rue Ravenstein 36 B-1000 Brussels Tel.: +32 (0)2 507 68 11 Fax.: +32 (0)2 512 58 61 abb-bvb@abb-bvb.be www.abb-bvb.be Isabel Another illustration of the spirit of innovation of the Belgian banking world is Isabel, a Belgian banks collective whose objective is to offer businesses an integrated solution with a number of advantages. Financial transactions, exchanges of financial and banking information, secure e-mail, information banks and e-commerce are all available on the same highly efficient and secure network. . Isabel is a professional group whose partners are the leading Belgian banks, computer companies, information services (such as famous information banks Dun & Bradstreet and Infotrade) and thousands of businesses Isabel has confirmed its role as a precursor in the Belgian banking sector in the field of uniform coding and digital processing of financial transactions. Isabel's history illustrates the successful quest for technological standardization of the software used, so that customers are able to work with a single transparent package, whichever banks they happen to choose. In 1996, Isabel brought together 23 banks and there are now more than 40,000 users. Belgian company Banksys has universally recognized expertise in card payment systems ISABEL Boulevard de l'Impératrice 13-15 B-1000 Brussels Tel.: +32 (0)2 545 17 11 Fax.: +32 (0)2 545 14 19 marketing@isaserver.be www.isabel.be SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) Also at international level, Belgium is a major banking and financial telecommunications centre. For instance, the headquarters of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) is located on the outskirts of Brussels. This company, manager of the world's interbank communications network, provides secure communication for almost 7,000 financial institutions in 190 countries. Its customers include banks, brokers-dealers, securities depositories, clearing houses, investment managers and stock exchanges. The SWIFT network, which carried more than a billion messages in 1999, meets the highest security and reliability standards. SWIFT SCRL Avenue Adèle 1 B-1310 La Hulpe Tel.: +32 (0)2 655 31 11 Fax.: +32 (0)2 655 32 26 www.swift.com Europay International Belgium also houses the headquarters of Europay International, European banks' leading provider of personal payment and related services. At present, 240 million cards (Maestro, eurocheque, Cirrus and Eurocard-MasterCard) provide European and international debit and credit services and offer cash withdrawal facilities from Europe's largest network of ATMs (almost 242,000 in 41 countries). Through its alliance with MasterCard International, Europay offers bank products accepted at some 530,000 ATMs and by 17 million sales outlets worldwide. During 2000, Europay International entered into an agreement with two of Europe's leading telecommunications services providers, namely BT and KPN Belgium, with the aim of considerably expanding and strengthening its transaction processing network. Europay's new VPN (Virtual Private Network) has been built to handle the rapidly increasing number of payment transactions: in 1999, no fewer than 9.6 billion transactions were recorded across Europe, a 19% rise on the previous year. The new VPN provides member banks with a high degree of security and a consistent level of services. EUROPAY INTERNATIONAL SA Chaussée de Tervuren 198A B-1410 Waterloo Tel.: +32 (0)2 352 51 11 Fax.: +32 (0)2 352 58 07 coc@europay.com www.europay.com Banksys Belgian company Banksys, founded in 1978, is a world leader in end-to-end secure payment systems. It has more than 20 years' experience and universally recognized know-how in the area of data security and confidentiality systems. Banksys set up the entire Belgian national debit card system, from terminal design and manufacture to complete management of the secure IP network and back-end. The company has proved the effectiveness of its payment solutions by achieving the world's lowest fraud rate. Banksys also developed Proton, the world standard in electronic purse technology, and has rolled out the service worldwide. Innovation continues to be the Banksys company's top development priority: smart card technology, interoperability, the internet, security, mobility and user friendliness are the themes on which it has focused its attention under a programme entitled ‘Shaping the Future’. The new C-ZAM terminals, including mobile and internet versions, are the first fruits of this innovation programme. The C-ZAM/SMASH range of terminals developed by Banksys for the Belgian and foreign markets represents a world first and a revolution in payment systems. This new generation terminal is the first to use a fully Java-based operating system. Banksys thus guarantees totally secure applications for both shopkeepers and cardholders. The terminal is future-oriented, as not only does it use the internet standards (TCPIP Protocol, Ethernet) and can support other applications, but it also meets the new CLIPS and CEPS interoperability standards and takes all payments in local currency and in euros. This Java-based architecture technology allows operators to develop new card applications without compromising or even affecting the core security of the terminal. The C-ZAM/SMASH is a multifunction card terminal which can be used with bank cards (debit cards, Proton card, national and international credit cards) as well as other cards such as store cards and social security cards. This is possible because the terminal includes readers for both magnetic strip and smart cards. It should also be noted that a mobile version of this payment terminal is equipped with a GSM modem, so that bills can be paid in restaurants and bars without moving from the table. Banksys hit the headlines again recently, when it unveiled Banxafe, a new secure on-line system for e-commerce payments. The system, compatible with the SET™ (secure electronic transaction) standard developed by Visa and MasterCard, is based on authentication of the shopkeeper and the customer by an outside body. Unlike the other methods of payment usually used on the internet, this solution uses a totally secure terminal, the C-ZAM/PC, which is a processing area protected from the outside world. Thus, sensitive information such as account number, card number, etc., is no longer communicated on the internet. The C-ZAM/PC enables all information to be handled discreetly on the terminal, away from the outside world. The C-ZAM/PC terminal was developed by Banksys. This powerful and user-friendly peripheral is equipped with its own keyboard and screen and can be plugged into the serial port of a PC or connected via the keyboard to the series port of a PC or via the keyboard interface. The smart card and C-ZAM/PC combination guarantees the system's total security and confidentiality. BANKSYS SA Chaussée de Haecht 1442 B-1130 Brussels Tel.: +32 (0)2 727 61 11 Fax.: +32 (0)2 727 67 67 marina.demoerlooze@banksys.be www.banksys.be C-ZAM/SMASH is a new generation multifonction card terminal guaranteeing totally secure transactions Proton World International It was a Belgian company which developed the world's most widely used smart card technology. Proton World was set up in 1998 by American Express, Banksys, ERG, Interpay and Visa International on the basis of the Proton smart card technology developed by Belgian company Banksys. Proton World International is a high-tech company specializing in smart card systems integration and application design which develops and markets Proton technology and is involved in research and innovation in the security systems field. Proton World supplies total solutions aimed at high-security nationwide systems for smart card issuers, purchasers and operators in numerous sectors. In addition to electronic purse schemes, Proton technology-based smart cards are used in many different areas, such as telecommunications, loyalty programmes, sickness insurance scheme refunds, public transport ticketing and payments, access control and secure payments on the internet. The latest research has led to the development of biometric identification of the cardholder (via fingerprints, voice and face), to the creation of Java applets for Proton applications and, perhaps most significantly, to the development of a Proton electronic purse meeting CEPS (Common Electronic Purse Specifications), which will lead to the global interoperability of electronic purse schemes. Proton technology has been licensed in 24 countries so far, including Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, India, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Canada, the USA, Mexico, Brazil and Chile. Since its introduction, more than 188 million electronic purse transactions have been effected in a network comprising upwards of 290,000 Proton-compatible terminals worldwide, making it the world's most widely used smart card technology. In December 2000, Proton World announced the opening of a new division, Proton World Americas, with the aim of developing Proton technology throughout the American continent. PROTON WORLD INTERNATIONAL SA Rue du Planeur 10 B-1130 Brussels Tel.: +32 (0)2 724 51 11 Fax.: +32 (0)2 724 50 60 info@protonworld.com www.protonworld.com High-security e-commerce payments are among the many applications offered on the Proton platform Verhaert The Verhaert company is renowned as an independent product development company. Its skills and expertise in the development of personalized systems and products are exercised in the space field in particular. The company, which in 1998 won a BFTB award for export achievement, has a Customized Systems division which develops and produces hardware for the banking sector. Its range includes ATM systems, ATM interface systems, front office counter systems and document drawers. Verhaert's more than 2,000 ATM terminals prove their reliability every day. Through or against the wall, for use standing or seated, these systems are customized, meeting the bank's requirements and reflecting its corporate image. As Verhaert operates independently of suppliers, it can equip these systems with different card readers, safes, screens, etc., to provide the most cost-effective solution. Verhaert also offers counter systems for banks. Combining safety, security and ergonomics, with particular attention to sound insulation, these counters are specially designed to guarantee optimum interaction between banker and customer. Finally, Verhaert's document extraction hardware is extremely user-friendly and secure and thus ideal for self-service banking. Verhaert has established long-term partnerships with several leading banks. http://www.wavxtek.org/MSFT_Finread_Visa.pdf The partners in the Ducato project are: Banksys (the operator of the Bancontact/Mister Cash debit card system and the Proton epurse system in Belgium) Europay International (the manager the Clip e-purse brand and provider of the EPSS and ECCSS international transaction-processing networks) Groupement des Cartes Bancaires "CB" (the French banking chip cards organisation) Interpay (the operator of the Chipknip e-purse scheme in the Netherlands) Proton World (the provider of CEPS-based e-purse technology to Banksys and Interpay) Sermepa (the Spanish operator and provider of the "Advantis" CEPS-based e-purse technology to Sermepa members and to Groupement des Cartes Bancaires "CB") Sistema 4B (the operator and CEPS-based e-purse technology provider to the Monedero 4B e-purse scheme in Spain) Visa International (the owner of the Visa Cash e-purse brand and the provider of the VisaNet international transaction-processing network) http://www.xiring.com/uk/news/dosspresse/dossier_presse_uk_0402.pdf The Company has joined with Europay to define and implement the new CEPS electronic purse. 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