SmartSoft at CARTES 2011...

Cartes, regarded as the most important international fair for the finance sector, bringing together participants involved in payment systems from all over the world will be held on 15-17 November 2011 in Paris, France. While Turkey will be the guest of honor at this year’s fair, SmartSoft, a subsidiary of Cardtek, offering secure and innovative solutions in the fields of card payment systems and smartcard technology will be displaying its products in the booth to be jointly hosted with Turkcell Technology.

SmartSoft, a subsidiary of Cardtek, offering secure and innovative solutions in the fields of card payment systems and smartcard technology will be participating in Cartes 2011 set to be held on 15-17 November 2011 at the Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center in Paris, France. In Booth No. 140 located in Hall 3D, SmartSoft will be proudly sharing new technologies, systems and products developed specifically for the banking sector with the international participants involved in payment systems from all over the world convening at this fair where Turkey will be the guest of honor, you're invited to SmartSoft’s No.140 located in Hall 3D jointly booth with Turkcell Technology.

EMV and Mobile NFC Payment Industry Leader SmartGroup Becomes  CARDTEK...

SmartSoft, CordisNetwork, CredoWork and PhayMobile Brands Realigned Under New U.S. Based Cardtek as Company Increases Sales, Marketing, Customer and Technical Support in USA

SmartSoft a leading provider of EMV based Instant and Central  Card Issuance, Mobile/NFC, and EMV training and consultancy solutions to the global payment industry is becoming Cardtek  Inc. effective immediately. The company’s of SmartGroup; SmartSoft, CordisNetwork, CredoWork and PhayMobile business units will now be offered under the umbrella of the new U.S. based organization.   

Founded in 2001, SmartGroup was formed to help pioneer the advent of EMV based payment standards and technologies in Europe.  Since then, the company and its brands have grown rapidly.  Today, it is a leading innovator of EMV based card payment, instant and central card issuance and Mobile/NFC solutions  to the global payment industry. As the company moves rapidly into its second decade, it is reorganizing to address the payment technology migration that is taking place in United States, Canada, Mexico and Latin America.

“To keep pace with the change sweeping across our industry, particularly in the USA and Canada, we are realigning our organization to deliver our complete line up of payment solutions under one organization,” said Murat Goksenin Guzel, President of the newly formed Cardtek Inc.  “Another goal is to increase our global sales and marketing network and increase the level of technical and customer support we currently offer in Canada and United States. The U.S. migration to EMV based payment solutions and the rapid adoption of MOBILE NFC solutions are arenas in which we lead and we want to be there to support our colleagues in North America as they rapidly commercialize these exciting new payment based technologies.”

As part of the name change;  SmartSoft,  CredoWork, CordisNetwork and PhayMobile brands will now all be offered under the umbrella of the Cardtek.  The technology innovation you have come to expect from these brands will continue.  However, an increase in Cardtek  sales, marketing, customer and technical support, particularly in Canada and the United States, will be very transparent in the days and months ahead.

CIM USA and SmartSoft Team to Offer End-to-End EMV Card Personalization and Instant/Central Card Issuance for U.S. Market

CIM USA, a leading manufacturer of card personalization solutions for financial applications, and SmartSoft, a Cardtek Company, and a leading provider of EMV based central and instant card issuance, Mobile/NFC, and EMV training and consultancy solutions to the global payment industry, announced a strategic partnership to provide end-to-end EMV based payment solutions to financial card issuers and bureaus in the United States. The move is intended to support the U.S. banking and card payment industries' transition to EMV and NFC based payment technologies outlined last month by VISA.

CIM is a U.S. based provider of central and instant card issuance solutions.  CIM solutions are designed for low to high-volume output and all-in-one card personalization, incorporating technologies such as - thermal printing, embossing, front and rear indent, contact and contactless chip encoding, card matching and affixing.

SmartSoft's awards winning Palmaris instant/central card issuance system allows banks and credit unions to instantly and securely offer contact and contactless EMV Chip cards to customers in the branch in less than 60 Seconds.   In May, Sunova Credit Union in Canada became the first Credit Union in North America to adopt the new EMV chip cards using the Palmaris technology.  Palmaris is a complete turnkey solution that supports both EMV and non-EMV applications.The strategic partnership with CIM USA will allow SmartSoft to quickly issue completely personalized cards in the branch. The security, management and quality control features of Palmaris' are unmatched, supporting the latest technologies in EMV such as PayPass, PayWave, and Near Field Communication (NFC). Dual works quality control tools also prevent the issuance of defective personalized cards to cardholders a major cost saving and customer service benefit for banks and credit unions. The Palmaris instant/central card issuance system is recognized globally as one of the most secure, robust, feature rich and cost effective instant issuance solutions on the market today. 

"The partnership with CIM USA will deliver significant value to U.S. based EMV card personalizers and issuers by offering a proven card personalization hardware platform, and a truly cutting-edge, flexible and cost-effective EMV software solution designed by one of the fastest growing companies in the EMV software industry," commented Erdal Yazmacı, Executive Vice President of SmartSoft.  "The new solutions are open, with no 'black box' approach.  They will offer customers a completely flexible, and scalable platform at a very competitive price point."

Mads Petersen, Executive Vice President & General Manager of CIM USA commented: "We are extremely exited about this new partnership with SmartSoft. The combined capabilities of CIM/SmartSoft are exactly what the U.S. market needs to effectively migrate to new EMV and Mobile/NFC technology as quickly and efficiently as possible to remain at the forefront of the payment card industry."

About CIM USA Inc.
CIM is a manufacturer of a complete line of hardware solutions for credit/debit card issuance, ID card printing, and plastic card personalization established in 1985.  CIM USA was established in 1999 to distribute the complete CIM product line into the USA and Latin America.  With its extensive global partner network, CIM is capable of providing excellent local support services.

The first pre-paid system in Turkey, equipped with NFC technology, that can carry out offline transactions...

With the NFC (Near Field Communication) based mobile project actualized via the collaborations of DenizBank (Dexia), Turkcell Technology, MasterCard and SmartSoft, another innovative solution in payment systems has been established.

While increasing competition and innovative solutions play in important role in the banking sector, for institutions in determining their place in the market, and the increased interest in NFC technology, DenizBank (Dexia) has pre-determined its customer's needs in this direction and has completed its NFC transition by converting mobile phones into a pre-paid card.

With the SmartSoft OCEAN card package transition, DenizBank (Dexia) has developed a faster and higher quality service infrastructure for their customers and with the NFC transition, without the need of a card, they offer customers fast and secure shopping opportunities directly with the SIM card.

With the independent structure of mobile phones, the system addresses a wide range of users and with the mobile phone's menu, it provides the opportunity to track past payments easily.

Europe's first MasterCard approved MNO TSM...

In the project, where SmartSoft developed the EMV backoffice infrastructure, Turkcell is the secure service provider for this project and also holds the first MasterCard approved MNO TSM service for Europe.

NFC technology simplifies our lives...

With the NFC technology, it is foreseen in the sector that mobile payments will become an indispensible part of our everyday life and with the flexible platform offered by SmartSoft, the system provides the opportunity for campus, transportation, and loyalty projects to be reflected in the mobile world.

Mobile phones are becoming pre-paid cards with NFC technology...

With regards to the DenizBank (Dexia) NFC project, DenizBank (Dexia) Assistant General Manager Dilek Duman noted that "We completed our NFC transition in an almost impossible short time thanks to the mutual synergy between Intertech, SmartSoft, Turkcell, and MasterCard. With the NFC transition, our bank now has a new card payment technology. One of the most important features of this project is that it is a pre-paid card system equipped with NFC technology that can do offline transactions. As per the project, the duration it takes DenizBank (Dexia) customers to apply for an NFC card application to the installation of the mobile application onto a mobile phone, has become defined as without any human factor. We are extremely happy from this great result created by the mutual synergy of four great companies."

Turkcell Technology Assistant General Manager Yucel Karadeniz indicated that they started working on NFC technology as of 2008. With regards to DenizBank's transition, where the finance sector has gained speed with the project, Karadeniz noted that "This project was actualized very quickly with the collaboration of SmartSoft and via the flexible, secure, and end-to-end NFC infrastructure. The technology we developed provides the opportunity for many applications to be offered securely with the same SIM card. This way, the wallets in our pockets are converted into a mobile wallet via the SIM card. This transformation, with the increasing intelligence of phones, will enrich lives to an important extent."

MasterCard Job Development Director Kemal Uyan stated that with the pre-paid feature of the MasterCard Mobile PayPass application, NFC technologies will be an indispensible part of campus, transportation, and stadium projects in a very short time. Uyan added that NFC technologies are not just used by banks but also, at the same time, companies from the telecom sector has shown interest and given their support; Turkish Banking has used the structure of NFC technologies in the best way and created such an infrastructure so that their customers could benefit from these services in the best way.

We are setting the NFC infrastructure…

In light of the solutions they offered, Murat Goksenin Guzel, SmartSoft General Manager noted that "With the NFC transition for DenizBank (Dexia), we have added another completed project to the many we have already completed for the Turkish banking sector. With the end-to-end solutions we offer for the card payment systems, we have done many firsts in the sector and we will continue this trend in the mobile payment sector. With  DenizBank (Dexia), in the past and today, I believe that we will collaborate one again with new, state of the art projects in the future." Guzel also indicated that in the near future, this system will become much more widespread and have an impact on various sectors.

SmartSoft - Visa - Akbank's collaboration. Europe's first micro-SD based mobile payment project...

NFC based mobile payment project has been initiated within the cooperation of Visa, Akbank and SmartSoft, in 2011. The project allows the users to do shopping and buying activities rapidly and safely in a world where mobile payment and contactless technology gradually become more and more widespread.

The system has been developed in accordance with the specifications mentioned in VMPA (Visa Mobile Payment Application), published by Visa Europe for mobile payment world. In addition to taking part in the certification process within the project, Visa has also served as the cell phone MIDlet provider corporation.

With its user, friendly interface and advantages provided by contactless cards and with even more facilities, the system is quite practical in terms of usage. For Akbank customers using some of the most common models of Blackberry, 9700 and 9780 all should be done is to send an SMS containing CO TCK number to 0532 4442525 and to integrate the micro-sd cards containing the VISA VMPA application numbers.

Thanks to the system, previous shopping activities of Akbank customers can be followed through the user interface on the cell phones; the system also allows the security parameters about the cards to be updated. Initially the application supported only the blackberry cell phones, however, it will be able to be to all NFC and non-NFC cell phones, Android, Bada, J2ME, Symbian and windows mobile platforms soon.

While SmartSoft has carried out the VMPA (Visa Mobile Payment Application) data preparation/key management and personalization processes, micro-SD card provider company Device Fidelity Corporation has taken part in the project as the solution partner.

SmartSoft General Manager Murat Göksenin Güzel said about the Micro SD project, "The system we initiated with Visa, Akbank and Device Fidelity corporations is significantly important in terms of extending the product range in the field of mobile payment. The NFC system will take its position soon in the payment infrastructure through exceeding the pilot projects. By means of alternatives provided for the users, an increase in the number of the users and a high customer satisfaction can be achieved. As SmartSoft, our solutions for NFC are able to support the future of the mobile payment technologies. Supporting both Micro-SD and SIM-based application, our platform functions as a catalyzer in the Mobile transition in Turkish Bank sector." 

Nur Öztin Kurak, Turkey Country Director, Visa Europe said; "We at Visa Europe give a great deal of importance to adding value to card payments by means of innovative products and offering them to Turkish consumers. Turkey has become a market that has a say across Europe in development and deployment of new products as well as the widespread card usage. Turkey, which has become an innovation base, where ideas are created, developed and deployed, determines the direction of payment solutions in Europe. Today, Turkish payments industry has been leading with innovative and distinctive products in mobile payment solutions as well as contactless technologies, prepaid cards, and loyalty programmes. Turkey forms a key pillar of Visa Europe's mobile payment strategy. We are greatly happy to sign our name under another first in Turkey and Europe in cooperation with our business partners by introducing the memory card (micro SD) based contactless mobile payments. I would like to express our heartfelt thanks to SmartSoft and Akbank management and their project teams. Thanks to this technology, more consumers will be able to benefit from the security and convenience of contactless mobile payments. The users of mobile phones with a memory card slot will be able to transform their phones into a Visa contactless card. Visa will continue to offer mobile payment solutions, which makes life easier for consumers, by means of bridging technologies until the majority of the mobile phones in the market are NFC-enabled."

Mehmet Sindel, Assistant General Manager Card Payments Department of Akbank on the solution offered to Akbank customers: "As Akbank, the initiator of this application, we believe that such applications will be a new start in the card payment systems and banking, and the change brought by this system will be extended really soon within the 3 years to come. After the SIM-based NFC pilot work in 2008, we carry out business with SmartSoft again on commercial usage of NFC technology with a new method of turning the memory card into credit card. With our cooperations we have become the first bank in Europe providing NFC usage on both SIM-based and through memory card. With our product titled "Akbank Cepten Öde" (Akbank Pay Via Cell phone) we have integrated a duplicate of EMV application on the chip of Visa credit cards into the MicroSD card. Our product is able to run with any models of thousands of contactless card reader in the Visa payment points all over the world. In order to increase this performance of our product, we have used it in the label format. We have tried to make our product special by making the "Akbank Cepten Öde" usage run with password. Therefore, through applying to online transactions and password use, we have suppressed the risk arising from attributing credit card feature to our cell phones, which are one of the most stolen properties. In addition, we have prepared a unique interface for "Akbank Cepten Öde" usage. With this interface the transactions such as payment, investigating previous transactions, security options, help pages, password change can be carried out easily. Moreover, these transactions are provided in 2 languages: Turkish and English. We invite all mobile operator users with cell phones to send an SMS containing CO TCK number to 0532 444 2525 and to enjoy the facility of paying via cell phones." 

With SmartSoft-Zebra Technologies solutions, Albaraka Turk Participation Bank increased its number of branches to 113, equipped with the instant card issuance infrastructure…..

 

With Palmaris instant issuance system, your credit card is ready in 10 minutes…

Using the instant issuance system, whose pilot scheme was completed a short while ago at 10 points, Albaraka Turk will be among the banks that leverages the broadest instant issuance system network in Europe with its 113 branches.

At Albaraka Turk, who has completed instant issuance system installation with SmartSoft in the past few months, Zebra Technologies card printing devices were used for card personalization with EMV chips. Ensuring card delivery in 10 minutes for client applications at branches all over Turkey, the system will relieve problems of pending cards of customers who wait their cards for weeks in cases of lost or stolen cards. Increasing the customer satisfaction to the maximum level, the project plays a significant role in increasing rates of card activation and usage.

Choosing Palmaris Instant Issuance System software developed by SmartSoft, the bank stores all payments and vendor keys at the bank headquarter with Palmaris.   Meeting all security requirements of EMV from end to end, the software exceeds expectations with its performance. After start of card personalization process by branch operator, card personalization and chip coding operations can be completed in only 40 seconds with Zebra P430i thermal printer.

With user friendly interfaces, Palmaris instant issuance system ensures the easiest operation management at both the bank center and branches. Thanks to its web based branch application that continuously queries client application finalization monitoring and constantly updates client list awaiting issuance, the only thing that a branch operator must do to start issuance is just pushing a button. With Palmaris Instant Issuance System, which also leverages profile based image and data based control as well as a warning mechanism during issuance, there is no possibility of releasing faulty cards.

We'll increase customer satisfaction and number of card users…

About the project, Albaraka Turk Payment Systems Manager Mesut Ak said: "As Albaraka Turk, we are very glad to have completed such a big scale project in a very short time. The biggest factor that led us to target at using instant issuance system extensively was to make significant increase both in customer satisfaction, and card usage rates, as well as in the number of cards, in a short period. Our data shows us that, we will have reached this target in a short while. In parallel with feasibility study we conducted before starting the project, considering both direct and indirect aspects, the financial benefit of the instant issuance operation cannot be ignored. With the project we have realized with SmartSoft, which is a globally preferred brand with its innovations in payment technologies, our bank staff has also obtained significant know-how about chips.”

More than 60 million cards are personalized annually…

On the new system installed for Albaraka Turk,  SmartSoft Assistant General Manager E. Özgür Altuntaş said: “Our Palmaris instant issuance systems have been extensively used by many banks since it was first developed. This is amongst the most important proofs that show the trust our clients have in our systems. With our personalization systems having many customers in Turkey and the world, more than 60 million cards are annually personalized.  The system that Albaraka Turk will extend to 113 branches is the only solution in the world that provides an end-to-end solution from a single software company, and that includes all managerial modules of vendor, independent, instant issuance systems."

Card issuances within branches minimize personalization costs of banks…

Manufacturing instant issuance systems, Zebra Technologies' EMEA Marketing Director, Marion Obergfell said the following:
“With over 40 years of experience in the sector, being the world giant in special printing and automatic identity identification solutions, Zebra Technologies continues its worldwide operations with its extensive product range. We are very glad to become a part of such instant issuance system with P430i product, which enables high performance and volume issuance, in the innovative and rapidly growing Turkish market. We believe that; integration of the complete instant issuance solution of SmartSoft and issuance machinery of Zebra Technologies will help customer satisfaction at Albaraka Turk branches increase to the highest level.” 

Area Manager of Zebra Technologies, Can Tolu reported about the project: "Instant issuance solution with Zebra card printers offers a very good service for customers in terms of security and increases rate of use. This solution eliminates problems such as cards lost during postal delivery or long awaited cards, and it brings a lot more advantages. Considering these advantages, a bank with a system to deliver cards without making their customers wait will automatically be one step ahead of the competition.”

Latest Technology PayPass & payWave cards are used,  developed by Austria Card...

In Palmaris Instant Issuance system, personalized PayPass and payWave cards are produced by Austria Card. Management Director of Austria Card, Friedrich Ramberger said: "Austria Card, providing cards for Turkish banks since 1995, have had the opportunity to closely monitor technological developments in payments systems in Turkey. Turkish banking sector represents the most developed market across the world in non-cash payments. The sector's need for solutions for quality, security and easiness for individual customers contributes positively to the general economy. Pioneer technologies of SmartSoft lead to innovative developments in payment systems and increases service capacity of banking customers. As Austria Card, we are very excited and proud to work with Albaraka Turk, SmartSoft and Zebra Technologies; and we are happy to have contributed successfully to the project realized with products manufactured and supplied with the latest technology, and in accordance with the latest payment standards.

THE SMARTSOFT "OCEAN" PACKAGE BREAKS RECORDS IN CARD PAYMENT  PERFORMANCES WITH THE ORACLE "EXADATA" DATABASE

The SmartSoft OCEAN Card Package was integrated with the world's fastest database hardware, Oracle's "Exadata Database Machine". With mutual collaborations, a unique solution was developed...

SmartSoft and Oracle, who have aimed at providing the best and detailed featured solutions that work with high performance, are fast and easily installed and since 2008, as a result of this collaboration and the integration of OCEAN-EXADATAsolutions, this synergy has been strengthened.

In terms of being up-to-date, performance, flexibility, fast and easy integration in card payment systems, the OCEAN card package is primarily preferred by national and international banks and with this integration, it has become a complete solution. This developed synergy created a perfect solution package to keep the quality, performance, and speed expectations at the highest level for banks and institutions that have no tolerance for the slightest performance flaw or interruption in their systems.

With regards to the subject matter, Oracle Product Regional Director Ferhat Dilman stated that "Currently, the world's fastest Oracle Database platform solution, the Oracle Exadata Database Machine, is receiving wide attention. The world's largest finance and communication companies currently prefer Oracle Exadata solutions. The Oracle Exadata solution can be used as a database system, data storage, and job intelligence system or database consolidation system and is quick to install, easy to activate, easy to manage and meets the needs of the safest database management systems. In the years to come, we want to continue this success. For this reason, we continue to lead the way with the solutions we develop with our business partners. The OCEAN-EXADATA integration is the success of the Oracle Partner HUB and SmartSoft team which aims to continue providing support to our business partners.

In Card Payment Systems transaction time is crucial...

SmartSoft Assistant General Manager Özgür Altuntaş noted that "the transaction volume in card payment systems is high in Turkey and the world and that transaction times are crucial for customers. As a result, the OCEAN-EXADATA integration was the result of long term collaborations with Oracle. Altuntaş added "As a Turkish company, we are very happy with this integration actualized with Oracle, one of the largest companies in the world. We as a software house, place great importance on growth with our business partners. In this sense, Oracle is a very valuable partner for us. Our mutual knowledge has become professional solutions with the mutual collaborations we have carried out. This way, our customer satisfaction oriented mutual goals become actualized with our collaborations with strong companies".

With Yapı Kredi and SmartSoft's Collaboration Turkey Met with Mobile Payment Technology...

 

 

A new solution was added to the innovative solutions actualized by Turkish banking in addition to the project known for the complete adaptation of dynamic, rapid, and secure concepts to payment technologies.

Within the project framework, PayMobile, the mobile payment infrastructure developed by Yapı Kredi, provides the opportunity for credit card customers to use their mobile phones to make payments from contactless terminals. The system, which was developed for MasterCard and Visa's mobile payments, supports both MasterCard Mobile PayPass and VISA Mobile Payment Applications.

The system, which is managed over the SmartSoft Mobile Solutions Platform product, meets all requirements for NFC mobile payment technologies. Also, in the developed platform the transaction flow coordination for a-synchronal transactions and information exchange, for both TMS and NFC mobile lifecycle modules and institutions, are kept at the highest level.

With PayMobile, iPhone iCarte, NFC SIM, Add-on NFC SIM and other NFC solution components are supported over the same structure and with VISA and MasterCard's newest mobile payment applications, solutions to a wide user portfolio are offered.

The platform not only supports all operators and TSM's but also provides the opportunity to support solutions that are operator independent.

We will spread mobile payment systems in Turkey to a wider audience…

Serkan Ulgen, Yapı Kredi Card Payment Systems Marketing Group Director noted that they were aiming at spreading mobile payment systems to a wider audience in Turkey and commented on the project saying "With the actualization of the independent structure of the handset, SIM, and payment applications, we are offering payment solutions to our customers that are faster and simplify their lives via their mobile phones. With the mobile wallet application located in their mobile phones, users will not only be able to use this during shopping but also be able to track and follow past transactions. We are ecstatic to have actualized a project in the field of mobile payments in Turkey, while setting an example in the world, with the collaborative efforts of SmartSoft and Turkcell, Turkey's leading companies. From this point on, as Yapı Kredi, we will continue to make a difference with similar applications in the mobile payment arena."

 

SmartSoft's experience is in the mobile payment world…

SmartSoft Assistant General Manager Ozgur Altuntas indicated that they managed to pull off a first, together with Yapı Kredi and indicated that "With this project, SmartSoft, who offers end-to-end solutions in banking payment systems, has carried its experience into the mobile payment world. SmartSoft, who developed the Yapı Kredi EMV Mobile infrastructure, also took on the duty as the Technology providing institution for Turkcell TSM. With the exception of the main systems (Mobil Data Prep&Key Man, MobilLifeCycle Management, TSM Gateway, TSM), our company supported the quality control of the platform and analysis tools while contributing greatly to minimize potential risks and problems that could have surfaced during the project development phase. As SmartSoft, our technological support to the Turkish banking sector will continue to grow, day after day."

A FIRST in Europe...

With Turkcell, SmartSoft, Plastkart and MasterCard's collaboration.

Europe’s first TSM (Trusted Service Manager) for NFC Payments, founded by a telecom operator was approved by MasterCard in Turkey. Turkcell is the first telecom operator in Europe to launch an approved TSM solution by MasterCard, and the project was brought to life with Turkcell, SmartSoft, and Plastkart’s mutual efforts. With the rapid spreading of contactless payment Technologies rapidly spreading in Turkey, the system provides the opportunity for safe and fast shopping for bank customers via using their mobile phones. Project officials indicate that the system will not be limited to daily shopping only but would also be offered to customers with transportation, campus, and loyalty applications very soon.

With regards to the developed mobile payment platform, MasterCard General Manager Mete Guney noted “In the world, there are many NFC projects available; however, in Turkey the TSM infrastructure mutually developed by Turkcell and SmartSoft has become the first NFC Mobile payment platform to receive approval from MasterCard in Europe. This system, which will be using the MasterCard Mobile PayPass payment application, will adapt mobile payment habits into everyday life in a short period of time.”

Turkcell actualized its largest investment in mobile payments with its NFC-enabled Mobile Wallet service “Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan” as well as the NFC Gateway and OTA Platforms. Ali Salcı, Head of Mobile Financial Services said “With our own TSM that we developed, we are now providing and end-to-end solution for service providers who want to offer contactless services. Also, our NFC Gateway infrastructure allows for the use of more than application over one SIM card. This way, your phone can be used as a mobile wallet and within the framework of the Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan Service, you can load bank cards onto your SIM card from participating banks. As Turkcell, our goals regarding financial services, like mobile payment and mobile wallet, are to provide the opportunity to individuals who are unable to benefit from the banking system and to help those, who use the system ineffectively according to today’s standards, to take advantage of the mobile world.”

SmartSoft, who provides end-to-end solutions in banking payment systems, participated in this project by carrying their experience from this field into Mobile Payment systems. With regards to the Mobile Payment Project, SmartSoft’s Assistant General Manager Ozgur Altuntas indicated that they have initiated many firsts in the world and added.

“This platform, which is MasterCard approved, handset independent, and in full compliance with mobile payment standards, is another addition to the Turkish Engineer developed innovations in the payment sector. We are very happy to conduct the TSM and banking mobile backoffice developments for this structure, which will be shown as an example in the entire world. We completely transferred the system’s banking needs in Turkey to the mobile payment platform. We believe that the Turkish Banking Sector, who successfully completed the Chip transition in a very short time, will also take action at the same speed with Mobile Payment. Competition in the sector will positively impact the development of payment systems Technologies.”

The developed TSM system possesses MasterCard's risk audit and Nato's safety certificates and is positioned in Plastkart, the Middle East's largest card personalization Office.

Cashless Life is Coming!

The CardSmart Bosphorus Conference, organized by SmartGroup, was held on Thursday April 28, 2011 at the Maslak Sheraton where new trends in card technologies were discussed. At the conference, which was held for the 3rd time, the closing of the cash era with mobile payments becoming prominent features of our daily lives and the use of electronic cash in the future marked the spot. SmartSoft, which is the world leader in card payment systems and chip card technologies, organized the 3rd CardSmart Bosphorus Conference in Istanbul. Topics ranging from the developments in the card payment sector to new card technologies and from internet based payment systems to security approaches for smart card payment systems were discussed at the conference where the banking-finance and informatics sector came together. WE ARE STARTING THE CARDSMART AWARDS In the conference's opening speech, SmartGroup CEO Ayse Nil Sarıgollu indicated that the purpose of the organization was to share the experiences of corporations who worked in payment systems and create a discussion platform. Sarıgollu indicated that Within this framework, in 2009, we discussed pre-paid and contactless cards and NFC solutions and in 2010, we discussed the ‘World's most Developed City Card Banking Applications'. The interest and high participation rate in our organization motivated us. Based on this, as SmartSoft, we made two important decisions. Firstly, we want to actualize this platform in every region we are active in and provide a place on this platform for future payment systems architects who have yet to take their places in the work field. In accordance with this goal, we actualized the CardSmart Balkans in Kosovo with the guidance of SmartGroup Balkans and our conference created great reactions in the sector. In the fall, under SmartGroup USA, we are planning to hold the CardSmart USA and CardSmart Canada in Canada. We are planning to continue our organizations in other countries as well in the near future." For the future payment systems architects, SmartGroup's motto Every Idea Based on Knowledge is Valuable" is the beginning of a social responsibility project indicates Sarıgollu and continued I sincerely believe that at the ‘2011-2012 CardSmart Awards' interesting ideas and different thoughts pertaining to the payment systems field will compete and that the aim is for all universities in Turkey to participate where young ideas will contribute great values to our sector. The competition will be open to Juniors, Seniors, and Master's students of Engineering departments. As part of the program, social communication area software developed over mobile phones will be evaluated by jury members who will be faculty. WE USED CREDIT CARDS 12.6 BILLION TIMES Interbank Card Center Assistant General Manager Pelin Kabalak emphasized that there was a rapid development in the card payment systems in Turkey. Kalabak shared some numbers from the card payment sector in her speech: Turkish card payment systems are first in Europe in terms of POS numbers, third in terms of number of cards, second in terms of number of credit cards, and in terms of credit card revenue, third with the largest market share. 9% of the EU-15 countries revenue comes from the Turkish card payment sector. For shopping and ATM use, we took our credit cards from our wallets 12.6 billion times. With the current number of 110 million bank and credit cards put together, we can travel around the world 22 times and their total weight is about 550 tons". IN THE LONG TERM, BIOMETRIC VERIFICATION TECHNOLOGY Kalabak also noted that in the near future, with the transportation integration, acceptance of payment systems will become widespread in public transportation and taxis and added The next step for contactless payments and mobile equipment is at the Near Field Communications (NFC) point and the BKM infrastructure has been prepared for sectoral use." Kalabak added In the long run, with Biometric verification technology, using fingerprint scans to use internet banking, eye scans to withdraw Money from ATM's, and giving instructions to banks via audio recognition will become widely used and biometric verification methods will also be used during shopping payments. With Biometric Verification methods things like the person taking the order, refrigerators accepting payments, smart baskets, tickets showing the show, posters selling tickets, and tables taking payments may come to mind. In 2012, all space scientists are talking about the beginning of a new era. With mobile payments entering our lives, it is possible to talk about a new era in payment systems where the cash era will close and electronic cash will become the king." E-state Consultation Group Director Dr. Ramazan Altınok, in his speech, provided information on the 11 prioritized e-state applications Project actualized by the Prime Ministry. Altınok noted that Projects providing the fastest results for citizens were selected. These projects are: the Online Vehicle Registration - Ministry of Internal Affairs; E-Criminal Record – Ministry of Justice; Online Company Establishment - Ministry of Industry and Commerce; E-Appointment in Health – Ministry of Health; E-Bidding – Institution of Public Bidding; E-Tax for Municipalities – Ministry of Internal Affairs; Online Case Transactions – Ministry of Justice; Consumer Portal – Ministry of Industry and Commerce; Culture Portal – Ministry of Tourism and Culture; E-Commerce Abroad – Customs Undersecretary, Foreign Commerce Undersecretary; and E-Environmental Permits – Ministry of Environments and Forestry…These projects will become much more widespread in state institutions."

A Canadian First: Sunova Credit Union Instantly Issuing EMV Debit Cards leveraging Everlink's Instant Card Issuance Solution

Everlink, a leading provider of Integrated Payment Solutions and Services in the Canadian marketplace, is pleased to announce that Sunova Credit Union is leveraging Everlink's Instant Card Issuance system to produce fully personalized EMV Chip debit cards in their branches. Everlink is the first financial services company in Canada to not only offer an EMV Instant Card Issuance system but to actually produce a fully personalized Chip debit card in a branch that has been certified by both Interac and MasterCard. With the first implementation completed successfully, Everlink can offer financial institutions the ability to provide highly customized cards that provide a more personal touch for the client cardholders. The Everlink solution provides a number of additional security features including the ability top print the cardholder's picture onto the back of the card and of course allows the cardholder to select their PIN as soon as their card is produced.

The system will allow financial institutions to offer multiple card images for cardholders to choose from in addition to the full personalization of the Chip and printing of the cardholder data as defined by the financial institution (e.g. card number, cardholder name, valid date and expiry date). The best feature of the product is that it can all be done in less than 2 minutes, on location, in a branch.

The Everlink Instant Card Issuance system, powered by SmartSoft technology, provides clients with the means to issue debit, credit or prepaid card (both MAG Stripe or Chip) as well as payWave and PayPass contactless cards. Everlink will add Interac Flash contactless functionality within the next few months.

"Everlink is the first in Canada to deploy this innovative solution and issue cards in this way," said Mark Ripplinger, Presient of Everlink. "We are very proud of this accomplishment, and what it means for our clients. The abilitiy to produce or issue your own EMV Chip cards on demand in a branch location is very significant in the fast-paced payments industry."

For more information : visit www.everlink.ca - www.smartsoftww.com - www.sunovacu.ca

SmartSoft and Zebra Technologies Showcase Innovative Instant Card Issuing Technologies at 16th Annual CARDS ASIA 2011

Companies to Co-Exhibit at one of Asia's Top Payment Conferences, April 13-15 at SUNTEC International Convention & Exhibition Centre, SINGAPORE

SmartSoft,  a leading provider of card payment solutions to the global payment and card issuance industry, announced today that it will showcase its innovative card issuance and payment solutions at the upcoming 16th Annual Cards Asia 2011 show in Singapore.  The company will speak at the Cards & Prepaid Seminar and co-exhibit with Zebra Technologies, a global leader in specialty printing, RFID and enterprise location solutions.   Both companies will focus on the deployment of their innovative "instant card issuing technologies," which is growing at a rapid rate in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

Into its 16th year, Cards Asia – the region's largest and most comprehensive smart card exhibition and conference serves as a high impact platform where decision makers from key industries come together to align their business needs and do real business. The Cards Asia Expo packs a powerful one‐two punch as it continues to address payment industry growth challenges whilst focusing on the latest and most innovative cards and payment applications that are driving the banking, transit, government, healthcare, hospitality, leisure and other sectors here in Asia.

About SmartSoft

SmartSoft is a leading provider of chip and pin, EMV card payment solutions to the global card payment and issuance industry. It designs, manufactures, and markets a broad range of card technologies, EMV consulting services, and software solutions.  Its products are developed in compliance with International Card Specifications EMVCo, VISA, MasterCard, EPCA and MULTOS.  SmartSoft has been approved, recommended and awarded by renowned institutions such as EPCA, MasterCard, VISA, EMVCo, MULTOS, SESAMES and ISO.  Based in Istanbul, the company's North America headquarters is in Toronto, Canada with service offices in Portland, OR.  It has extensive operations throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.  Visitwww.smartsoftww.com .

About Zebra Technologies

Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA) offers the broadest range of enabling solutions to identify, track, and manage critical assets, people and transactions for improved business efficiencies.  Serving more than 90 percent of Global Fortune 500 companies in more than 100 countries around the world, our specialty on-demand printing, RFID and enterprise location solutions help customers create smarter and more connected infrastructures, resulting in significant improvements in visibility and business performance.  For more information about Zebra's solutions, visit www.zebra.com .

Plastkart, a breakthrough in card personalization in collaboration with SmartSoft...

SmartSoft's Palmaris Central Issuance 5.0 System provides a solution for the personalization of various card types for many banks and institutions over a single platform.

The system can manage many types of machines together with the SmartProduction module for contact, contactless, NFC Micro-SD, EMV, and non-EMV card personalization with different chips and different BIN's.

The independent structure of the Palmaris Personalization Systems, from chip and machine manufacturers, not only reduces the operational weight but also provides positive contributions to the company in areas of productivity and system management.

In terms of security criterion, it supports EMV standards 100%. The system can be upgraded by SmartSoft. With the HSM Firmware structure, new card types are incorporated into the system in a very short period of time. This feature removes the reliance on HSM company developments for card personalization companies and institutions that offer card printing services.

With the quality control tools SmartSoft developed with the Palmaris Central Issuance 5.0 system, not only is faulty card printing minimized but also the delivery of wrong cards to customers is also prevented.

With SmartSoft's products, we've accomplished many firsts with our card personalization transactions...

Plastkart General Manager Ali YILDIZ stated his views on the Palmaris Central Issuance 5.0 System and stated "SmartSoft's system, independent of machine manufacturers, provides us a flexible structure in personalization. With the new structure of the Palmaris Central Issuance 5.0, many bank cards have the opportunity to be personalized using the MX6000 and DC9000 card printing machines. During the personalization process, it is very important for us that we use different types of machines, found in our facilities, on a single system. Also, SmartSoft's innovative understanding in the world of payment systems is directly reflected in card printing systems too. For the first time in the world, credit cards with KGS applications and EMV based credit and prepaid cards used in transportation projects, were personalized at Plastkart with the Palmaris Central Issuance System. In addition, by personalizing NFC Micro-SD cards with SmartSoft at our facilities, we will be accomplishing another new prospect".

We provide the opportunity of planning for tomorrow to the Banking and Finance sectors...

SmartSoft General Manager Murat Göksenin GÜZEL noted that "It is an honor for us that SmartSoft Systems are being used by an institution like Plastkart, who prints and personalizes over 10 million cards a year. All of our efforts and hard work are aimed at increasing the variety and productivity in the card sector. Our central card printing system not only provides the necessities for NFC technologies, which will become widespread in the upcoming term, but also gives banks the opportunity to plan for tomorrow. Our goal is to ensure that our systems, which are used widely throughout North America, East and Southern Europe, will dominate the entire global market".

Aneltech and SmartSoft Collaboration

Aneltech and SmartSoft have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 03/03/2011 to be valid for 2 years. With this MOU, the Parties have agreed to cooperate and provide value-added joint solutions on designing, manufacturing, sales, installation and after-sales-services to customers in the areas of smart payment systems, security solutions and applications for banks, public companies and Mobile operators and the like.

SmartSoft Solutions at the CeBIT...

SmartSoft, Turkey's leading company in card payment systems and chip card Technologies, will participate in the CeBIT which will be held in Germany between 01-05 March 2011. At the expo, where Turkey will be the guest country, SmartSoft will share its newest technologies that were developed for the banking and finance sector with expo visitors.

SmartSoft, who is moving ahead with confident steps in becoming the global company of the year in the card payment systems and chip card technologies field, is participating in the CeBIT that will be held in Hannover Germany. At the expo, SmartSoft will introduce its newest technologies, systems and products at its stand, located in the 11th Expo Hall stand  F 25/4, to international visitors.

With regards to participating in the expo, SmartSoft General Manager Murat Goksenin Guzel  stated "We are presenting high technological products and solutions that are customer satisfaction oriented for our customers in five continents. In 10 years, we have become the preferred solution partner for banking and finance networks in Turkey. Turkey is in a strong economic growth. We will have the opportunity at the expo in Germany to introduce the innovations of the banking sector to the entire world."

With SmartSoft products, life is becoming easier...

At the expo, SmartSoft will display the Palmaris Instant Issuance System, which is a turnkey solution contact and contactless EMV and magstripe cards that can be personalized at the branches. The Palmaris Instant Issuance System draws attention with its security, management, and quality control features. In addition to this, it supports the latest technologies in EMV like PayPass, payWave, and Near Field Communication (NFC). The product was awarded the "Most Innovative Payment Software" Award by EPCA/ECR and is successfully used in many countries including Italy and Canada.

Another product that will be launched at the expo is SMSP. The SMSP Mobile Solution Platform product is a complete NFC solution that provides innovative contributions to the rapidly spreading payment technologies in the world and Turkey. Also, it fulfills all of the Mobile Network Operators (MNO) and Service Providers require.

About SmartSoft Information Technologies

SmartSoft offers software solutions and services for the Payment Industry and focuses on card based payment processing and chip based financial card issuance. By offering a wide range of products like smartcard personalization, card management, and mobile payment solutions, SmartSoft helps its clients to improve their card business and get involved with new business areas. By successfully implementing a wide array of worldwide innovative projects, SmartSoft is now a pioneer in the field and enjoys its rapidly increasing market share in both horizontal and vertical markets.

Galatasaray Actualized Its Prepaid Card Project With Denizbank's(Dexia) “Proceed” Card Management System…

By choosing SmartSoft's PROCEED Prepaid/Debit Card Management System, DenizBank(Dexia) actualized Galatasaray's Prepaid Card project and put their signature under another important success in the banking sector. DenizBank(Dexia), who is picking up speed in the Card and POS sector, has an important competitive advantage in the market with SmartSoft technologies.

In 2010, in card payment systems, DenizBank(Dexia) completed the transition to SmartSoft's OCEAN-Card Management System, IIDS-Neural Fraud Management System, PROCEED-Prepaid/Debit Card Management System, SmartProduction Card Printing Systems and PALMARIS Instant Issuance System in a period of less than 6 months and sees the products and experiences provided by SmartSoft as an important advantage for them.

PROCEED provides quick adaptation to the bank's various business lines...

The PROCEED solution, integrated with the bank's current system, provides adaptation in a short period of time for high volume low cost transactions in card based system business lines like transportation, campus, fan card, and parking. By working with MasterCard/Visa's contactless prepaid specifications, it provides the opportunity for the bank to adapt to these complex business lines and to produce fast at high levels.

MasterCard Mchip 4.0 PayPass, VISA payWave, Oracle 11G, Microsoft MS SQL 2008 and other business and technologies are supported by SmART FrameWork Technology...

Like SmartSoft's other products, PROCEED, which uses the SmART Framework's architecture supports other databases like Oracle 11G, and Microsoft MS SQL Server 2008 and provides the bank and important technological strength in this sector. The SmART Framework provides the opportunity for the banks different business lines like the transportation, fan card and campus projects, to be based and easily integrated into these systems.

By using these technologies we have covered important grounds in terms of our production rate and competition...

With regards to their new projects,  Dilek DUMAN, DenizBank Information Technologies and Support Operations Assistant General Manager indicated that "In addition to our 6 month card package transition with the Intertech and SmartSoft teams, we started a new large scale project with the Galatasaray Prepaid/Debit project. These technologies increased our production speed and we have caught an important competitive advantage in integrating different business lines including competition between banks. In a short time, with the coordination of both teams and by putting PROCEED into use with the other business lines, we as DenizBank(Dexia) will provide faster and better quality service to our customers."

DenizBank has a unique "Success Story" that is not commonly seen in the world

SmartSoft General Manager Murat Goksenin GUZEL added that "In the first 6 months, we completed a unique and successful transition with DenizBank(Dexia). Following this, we are very happy to carry out such a large scale prepaid card project. I want to extend my gratitude and thanks to the Intertech and SmartSoft teams for this immense joy that is the result of their intense and high scale efforts."

SmartGroup Started 2011 with Mobile Company Investments...

The SmartGroup ended 2010 with the SmartSoft, Credo and Cordis Company groups and now started 2011 with PhayMobile corporate investments. The investment decision was made by the SmartGroup Board of Directors in April 2010 and the company consists of teams with expertise in sales, marketing, product and technical areas for Mobile Payment Systems.
The Year 2011will be the Breaking Year in Mobile Payment Systems in the Banking Sector Rivalry…

SmartGroup CEO Ayşe Nil Sarıgöllü provided detailed information on the matter and said “As SmartGroup, we believe in focusing as our work principle. Despite the global crisis in 2009, we actualized corporate investments with two very successful companies named CREDO and CORDIS. We started to collect the products from our investments very quickly in 2010. Since 2007, along with the contactless technology transition, the banking sector has been introduced with many payment systems. Leading these new payment systems is the Mobile Payment Systems. We predicted that with the development of SIM technologies, Mobile Payment Systems would be commercialized in 2011. As of the 3rd quarter of 2010, we decided to invest in this direction as a result of close monitoring and mutual projects we've conducted with leading representatives in the mobile sector.

With Four Companies, We Will be Active in Different Business Areas, We Will Increase our Technical Staff by 20% in 2011…

SmartSoft, which possesses a very strong technology in the banking sector, will continue to provide services to the banking sector through what we call Zone 1. CORDIS, which will continue in Zone 2 will provide services to the Prepaid/Mobile Processing field, and with Zone 3, we are planning to become a leader at the intercepting point for the banking/mobile world's technology with PhayMobile. CREDO will continue to manufacture hardware for the vertical market. Worldwide exportation of these technologies will be done via SmartGroup US, our company located in America; SmartGroup Balkans, our company located in Macedonia; and our Reseller network. In order for our technical staff to provide services to these regions, we have decided grow by 20%.”

Murat Göksenin Güzel, who will be the General Manager of both SmartSoft and PhayMobile, indicated that “2011 started much faster than we expected for Mobile Payment Systems. We believe that by the 3rd quarter of 2011, telephone and SIM manufacturers will experience an upper refraction in NFC technologies.”

SmartSoft and PhayMobile will Become the Technology Manufacturing Centers for Banking and Mobile Payment Systems…

Murat Göksenin Güzel also added that “PhayMobile will offer TSM, OTA and SIM/MicroSD Life Cycle Management solution products, which have been developed by SmartSoft for over 2 years. PhayMobile's sales-marketing and product team will be separate from SmartSoft and take over the development of these products. We are sure that these two companies, which will become experts in two different fields, will create a massive coalition in the banking and mobile payment systems.”