Local company takes part in Visa Smart Partner Programme

by a staff reporter

RS2 Software Group, which was set up in Malta in 1989, is taking part in the Visa Smart Partner Programme.
The Visa Smart Partner Programme is seeking to introduce a cost beneficial chip migration programme to all Visa member banks in the CEMEA (Central Europe, Middle East and Asia) region.
RS2 CEO Reinhold Schaeffter said: “Many banks today are holding back investment in chip-based products because of cost, risk, and the lack of infrastructure to support market acceptance. It is just a matter of time before things change. Many countries in the CEMEA region have already agreed on national chip migration plans within the mandated Visa context. RS2 is able to offer integrated chip card products with rapid migration from magnetic strip to chip-based cards in just a few months.”
Chip-based cards offer far higher levels of security than do cards with a magnetic strip, and have drastically reduced credit/debit card fraud wherever they have been introduced. Malta uses the magnetic strip system. There are currently 41.95 million Visa smart cards in circulation around the globe, with the biggest uptake in the European Union. Visa smart cards give credit and debit cards new levels of security, greatly increase protection against fraud, and can interact with ATMs/point-of-sale machines to make transactions quicker and cheaper.
Alan Goslar, executive vice-president (products) at Visa, said: “We enter into partnerships with trusted and established global and regional suppliers of elec-
tronic payments, so that our members can have confidence in the solutions they buy. RS2 Software Group has an excellent track record in payment solutions for the banking and financial industry, and we are pleased that they have come up with a cost-effective solution for banks, who are finding the migration to chip an extremely expensive option in the initial stages.”