CETECOM and Integri link up and launch new test solution for German payment market

Companies add value to marketplace by offering most flexible test tool equipped with enhanced usability

4 March 2008, Brussels, Belgium and Saarbruecken, Germany – Integri, leading provider of test tools and services for payment, ticketing and mobile applications, and CETECOM ICT Services, leading provider of testing and certification services, announce a collaboration and launch joint solution for the functional testing of German Network Service Providers (NSP).

With the GICC NSP Test Suite, German Network Service Providers can test a correct data exchange of their GICC (1) connection to acquirers such as First Data, Citibank, American Express and B+S. Acquirers accept or refuse credit card transactions at stores and point-of-sales and it is therefore imperative that connections between the different players are running faultless. To guarantee optimal functioning, acquirers have defined host type approval test cases to which network operators should comply.

CETECOM will use the PC-based tool in their test laboratory to certify German network service providers prior to connection to an acquiring host. The Network Service providers can use the tool’s acquirer host simulator to prepare for official approval tests in laboratories such as CETECOM. Zentraler Kreditausschuss (ZKA), the German Bank Association, which is responsible for regulating electronic payment applications in Germany, qualified the test bench.

The solution, onto which CETECOM ICT Services built the respective test suite for the GICC NSP Testing, is based on Integri’s open INQ® platform and thus customizable and future-proof. The simulator is adaptable and can be configured to any specific requirements. Besides, more than 1000 possible test scenarios, covering all possible circumstances, are readily available and included. Additionally, it is easy to run a test environment in automated mode ensuring a considerable gain of time. Integri has developed the simulator whilst CETECOM built the different host type approval test cases.

“This collaboration answers an existing need of the Network Service Providers on the German market” says Jan De Meester, CEO at Integri. “They can now use a flexible, qualitative test solution for pre-certification guaranteeing official certification, thus preventing costly modifications”

“CETECOM and Integri are both strong players in the testing market” confirms Gerhard Schirra, Member of the Executive Board at CETECOM. “Combining field-proven testing technology and local knowledge has amounted to a value-added and unique service facility adapted to the German market.”

(GICC is the protocol based on ISO8583 used in Germany to exchange messages between the Network Service Provider host and the acquirer host. The protocol allows a Point-of-Sale System (POS) of a credit card acceptor to communicate with credit card authorization and data capture hosts.)

About Integri
Integri specializes in test tools and test services for payment, ticketing and mobile applications. Alongside the open INQ platform, Integri offers a number of dedicated platforms for specific applications, each with a number of Off-the-Shelf Test Suites. These test suites are fully prepared solutions that include simulation and test scripts and are based on international open standards. Integri employs 45 staff, has +150 customers and sold +2000 licenses in 35 countries since its inception in 1992. Integri is located in Belgium, France and the US. Integri’s clients are mainly financial institutions, smartcard manufacturers, terminal manufacturers, ticketing operators, mobile operators and system integrators active in e- or m-business.

Integri is a wholly owned, autonomous business unit of Clear2Pay, an international financial technology company focused on delivering globally applicable solutions for secure, timely electronic payments. Clear2Pay’s operates from 12 international offices and currently employs over 400 staff.

More information on www.integri.com and www.clear2pay.com

About CETECOM
CETECOM supports her customers in launching telecommunications equipment and radio systems to the world markets, by providing testing, certification and consulting services. CETECOM’s customers are manufacturers, distributors and operators of communications networks as well as service providers. CETECOM tests interfaces, protocols and functionality in all fields of telecommunication and radio. In her SmartCard laboratory CETECOM tests readers and network components on compliance with the requirements of credit card issuers as well as the specifics of German banking cards (ZKA). The testing of electrical safety, impacts of environmental effects and electromagnetic capability as well as certification and support of market access completes the one-stop-shopping-offer.

Due to CETECOM’s active participation in international standardisation and in new technology forums, CETECOM possesses up to date expert knowledge in the field of innovative telecommunications technologies. With the framework of technical consulting, CETECOM would like to put this know-how at your disposal.

CETECOM ICT Services GmbH is a company fully owned by the CETECOM GmbH, Essen. The CETECOM GmbH, Essen affiliates to the RWTÜV Group in Essen. The world-wide CETECOM network has locations in Germany, France, UK, USA, China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.

More information about CETECOM ICT Services GmbH is available under
www.cetecom-ict.de

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For more information:

Clear2Pay NV/SA
Conny Dorrestijn - VP Marketing and Communications
E:
P: +31 651 06 72 01