Left to right: Ram Chari, Senior Manager, Network International, Abdulla Qassem, Chairman Network International, Denzil Lawson Senior Vice President and General Manager,Middle East and North Africa MasterCard International, Eyad Al-Kourdi Director, Member Relations MasterCard International.

The MasterCard EMV certification program applied through smart card technology provides universal guidelines for all payments. MasterCard has a clearly defined, rigorous system of EMV certification processes covering all components in a smart card solution - chip, card, operating system and application software, terminals, personalization of cards, network interface validation and terminal integration. These procedures cover functionality, security and quality aspects and are necessary for chip migration. The EMV specification ensures global interoperability for smart payment cards by defining all the interactions that take place between a smart card and a chip terminal.

With this certification, NI expands its already extensive range of products, technical solutions and services, giving the company the flexibility to reach a much wider community in the region. It also reinforces NI's position as a strong, independent outsourcing entity, offering an entire gamut of swifter and cost-effective issuing and acquiring services, including chip processing, services to banking and financial institutions and large retailers, all under one roof.

Abdulla Qassem Chairman of NI, said, 'This certification is yet another stepping stone for Network International towards our mission of becoming an all-in-one payment card service provider. We are now more prepared than ever to meet all the outsourcing requirements of a much wider client base. This extended client base can now capitalise on reduced investment costs and our wealth of expertise in card processing and acquiring business.'

Ram Chari, Head of NI added, 'This development is another indication of our ever-expanding presence in the region. It will allow for more flexible operations in both the retail and banking sector across the Middle East. We are now fully capable of processing chip cards and we expect to see a vast growth as the migration to chip usage is gathering rapid pace in advance of the 2006 EMV stipulation.'

Denzil Lawson, senior vice president and general manager, MasterCard International, Middle East and North Africa said, 'This is a significant achievement for Network and an important addition to the Chip capability of the region - something that MasterCard is very keen to support. Providing electronic payment solutions to a wider audience facilitates bringing people into the banking system at a lower cost, which translates into an overall economic growth in the long term. With the EMV process certification complete, Network International is now able to offer comprehensive payment solutions for MasterCard branded products, including ATM sharing services, merchant acquiring, e-commerce and chip programmes.'