Uberbrand, Author at Cuscal

Wirecard & Cuscal announce Australian cooperation

Posted on May 29, 2015July 31, 2024 by Uberbrand

Aschheim (Munich), 29 May 2015: Wirecard Group, with its New Zealand subsidiary GFG Group Limited, today announced that Cuscal Limited, one of Australia’s leading payment services companies, has selected Wirecard as solution partner for its next generation acquiring and issuing processing business.

Cuscal, established in 1992, provides payment services to more than 100 banks, mutual sector organisations, airlines and other organisations in Australia. Cuscal processes around 14 percent of EFT transactions in Australia as well as managing one third of Australia’s ATMs and over 5.5 million debit, credit and prepaid cards.

Cuscal’s clients include the majority of Australia’s credit unions as well as some of Australia’s largest banks and the domestic operations of foreign banks. Increasingly Cuscal is becoming the preferred partner of choice to service the interests of non-financial services clients, such as Virgin Australia or the Queensland Government.

“We are very happy to announce this business relationship with Wirecard and are eager to launch innovative new services to our clients on this new platform,” stated Craig Kennedy, Managing Director at Cuscal. “With Wirecard, we are introducing best-in-class in payments technology to the Australian market, which will extend our portfolio of innovative services in an ideal way.”

Wirecard’s acquiring and issuing platform represents the result of almost two decades of international payments experience, supporting all debit and credit card schemes on an integrated high-performance real-time transaction platform. Wirecard’s solution is based on a modular architecture and is supporting the latest innovations in card and mobile payments.

“We are thrilled to be working with Cuscal, a company that has been a driver for innovation in Australian payments for decades. Cuscal and Wirecard are both at the forefront of technological innovation in the payments sector, in particular driving the deployment of next generation payment products. Together we will be able to serve this rapidly developing market even more effectively,” said Andreas Kazamias, Managing Director of GFG Group.

Wirecard Media Contact
Wirecard AG
Maren Brandt Tel.: +49 (0) 89 4424 1425 Email: maren.brandt@wirecard.com

Media contact
Jake Waddell jwaddell@cuscal.com.au 0417 312 902

Shoppers switch to smart phones

Posted on May 21, 2015July 31, 2024 by Uberbrand

Sydney, 21 May 2015: Customers using their Android phone for ‘tap and pay’ purchases are most likely to be buying their groceries or a takeaway meal, spending an average of $27 per transaction, according to new data to be released at a national conference in Melbourne today.

In July last year, customer-owned financial institution CUA became the first banking provider in the Asia-Pacific to roll out a free mobile app using HCE technology, which allowed customers to ‘tap and pay’ with any compatible Android phone. The mobile app – CUA redi2PAY – was developed by CUA’s payments provider Cuscal and works on any NFC-enabled Android phone running on KitKat 4.4 or later.

CUA Head of Customer Insights Chris Malcolm and Cuscal Head of EFT, Acquiring and Digital Colin Sultana will share insights into how customers are using their ‘mobile wallets’ as part of a case study on the redi2PAY implementation at the Australian Cards and Payments Summit taking place at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre today.

Mr Malcolm said groceries were the top retail category for redi2PAY transactions, followed by fast food, petrol stations, restaurants/ dining and alcohol purchases.

“Interestingly, the top five retail categories for redi2PAY mobile payments are the exact same retail categories where CUA customers make the highest number of Visa PayWave purchases using their debit card,” he said.

It appears that CUA’s early adopters of mobile payments technology are literally swapping their debit card for their mobile phone, using it for the same kind of purchases as they would have made with a traditional plastic card.”

Customers using redi2PAY are also using it more frequently – the number of customers using redi2PAY more than 35 times per month was around three times higher in March than it was six months earlier in October. The number of customers using mobile payments semi-regularly (5 to 14 times per month) is up 63 per cent for the same period.

The data also shows:

Customers spend an average of $27 per transaction when using CUA redi2PAY – the same as the average amount for Visa PayWave purchases.
The number of redi2PAY transactions spikes towards the end of the week (Thursday to Saturday). Saturday has the highest number of redi2PAY transactions, while
Sunday has the least. Visa PayWave transactions also peak on Saturday, while Monday has the lowest number of payments.
Most mobile payments occur between 12pm and 8pm, with a spike from 1-2pm. The trend is similar for Visa PayWave payments.
The number of redi2PAY transactions each month has increased by more than 16 per cent since September 2014.
December 2014 recorded the highest value of redi2PAY transactions for a single month, coinciding with the lead up to Christmas.

CUA and Cuscal have already been recognised in Australia and Asia as pioneers in mobile payments. A leading financial research company in Asia, IDC, recently named CUA redi2PAY as one of the top 25 mobile innovations in financial services for 2014-15.

“There is huge potential for this technology to fundamentally change how people pay for purchases,” Mr Malcolm said.

“People tend to take their smart phones everywhere they go and now, the need to also carry cash and cards in your wallets is becoming a thing of the past.”

He said approximately eight times more CUA customers now have a compatible Android phone which could be used for redi2PAY, compared to a relatively small group of customers who had the required technology when redi2PAY was launched 10 months ago.

“We’re seeing increased take-up of this HCE technology across the banking sector, as others follow our lead. The use of ‘mobile wallets’ will only continue to grow as customers become more familiar with the technology and its security features, and upgrade their Android devices to the latest models.”

Media contact
Jake Waddell jwaddell@cuscal.com.au 0417 312 902

Cuscal New Payments Platform

Posted on May 1, 2015July 31, 2024 by Uberbrand

Cuscal is one of the lead businesses helping to design and build the New Payments Platform (NPP). This video provides an introduction to the NPP and explains how it will improve the way we make payments when it launches in 2017.

Currently money transfers are slow and inefficient as Australian banks only process transfers during business hours. With the introduction of the NPP, secure real-time payments can be made with the click of a button using a mobile phone, tablet or computer without the need for a BSB or account number.

Cuscal signals intent to join forces with SPS

Posted on October 13, 2014July 31, 2024 by Uberbrand

Sydney, 13 October 2014: Cuscal Limited (Cuscal), one of Australia’s leading providers of end-to-end payments, has today announced plans to acquire Strategic Payments Services Pty Ltd (SPS), subject to shareholder approval.

If the transaction is approved it will cement Cuscal’s unique market position as the only independent ADI licensed wholesale payments company to deliver banking capabilities and payments solutions across the entire spectrum of the payments value chain.

Managing Director of Cuscal, Craig Kennedy, said combining Cuscal’s and SPS’s complementary strengths in issuing and acquiring would bring significant opportunities to clients of both companies.

“The future of payments is about real time, mobile and data. This synergistic acquisition will complete our capabilities in the current environment and prepare us for where the market is heading.

“For financial and non-financial organisations that want to connect with the future payments market, Cuscal offers an attractive and scalable non-compete solution built around independence and continual innovation to keep pace with the exciting rate of change,” said Mr. Kennedy.

Following the completion of this acquisition the new entity will represent approximately 10 per cent of the Australian electronic funds transfer (EFT) market, thereby providing healthy competition and greater choice for clients in the process.

“Combining the organic growth of both companies means we can provide payment connectivity to an increasingly diverse range of financial institutions and non-financial institutions through a unique aggregated approach. This will put us in an excellent position to connect to any current and future payment systems,” said Mr Kennedy.

Managing Director, Strategic Payment Services, Simon Stephenson said SPS has successfully carved out an enviable market position as one of the leading independent payment processors in Australia.

“SPS and Cuscal are both strong, innovative payments businesses underpinned by dedicated and talented staff. I am confident the acquisition will create a new, unique and powerful player in the Australian payments landscape delivering growth opportunities and significant benefits for the people and customers of both organisations,” said Mr Stephenson.

It is anticipated that the combined entity would service more than 100 clients across a number of industries including financial institutions, mutual banks, credit unions, insurers, government departments and agencies, and major retail corporations.

The combined infrastructure would support:

switching technology that enables issuers and acquirers to access the payment systems
a real-time payment platform and 24×7 fraud prevention engine
connections to all cards and payment schemes
a digital and mobile infrastructure
switching for approximately 9000 ATMs, including the rediATM network, one of Australia’s largest ATM networks
a comprehensive merchant management system
comprehensive data analytics capabilities

“The payments industry is radically changing and we already signalled our intent to support its ‘disruption’ when we launched Asia-Pacific’s first mobile Host Card Emulation (HCE) payments app redi2PAY earlier this year.

“Integrating with SPS means we can sharpen our focus and investment in research, development and delivery of market leading technology, as well as continue to offer emerging players a neutral platform to operate from,” Mr Kennedy said.

Under the deal, owners of SPS – Bendigo Bank and Mastercard – will take an approximate 10 per cent stake each of the final combined entity.

“Having Mastercard and Bendigo Bank join our already diverse and large group of shareholders means we continue our long-held commitment to impartial ownership,” said Mr Kennedy.
The transaction to bring the two companies together, which is expected to occur by the end of the year, is subject to shareholder approval at Cuscal’s November AGM.

-ENDS-

About SPS
Since 2006 SPS has achieved an enviable market position as one of the leading independent payment processors in Australia. Its end-to-end solutions include transaction switching, device driving, card management, merchant management, data analysis, back office reporting, settlement and support functions.

Cuscal set for early adoption of Apple Pay solution

Posted on September 3, 2014October 27, 2023 by Uberbrand

Cuscal is excited about the announcement from Apple today that it will support payments in its new iPhone 6, together with iOS8 and has called it Apple Pay.

Adrian Lovney, General Manager, Products and Services believes that Cuscal is in a prime position for early adoption to the new Apple Pay solution.

“With Cuscal’s work to date regarding tokenisation we can leverage the ongoing development of our HCE app, previously only available for Android devices,” said Adrian.

“This ensures that we are in a key industry position for early adoption to the new Apple Pay solution. As you might expect, Apple’s announcement positions themselves as the gatekeeper to the Apple ecosystem (unlike the Android HCE approach which is more open).”

Apple has announced that as part of iPhone 6 they will be launching their NFC enabled mobile payments service (Apple Pay) in partnership with the key schemes, specifically Mastercard, Visa and Amex as well as initially the top six issuers in the USA, covering 83% of cardholders. This includes tokenisation through the schemes and a secure element embedded in the phone itself. Substantial hardware upgrades of existing iPhones to the iPhone 6 will be required before Apple Pay is widespread, however with the launch of Apple Watch also incorporating NFC capabilities in 2015 we understand that this will bring NFC capability to the current iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c.

The device will have preloaded applets for each of the schemes, which Apple will provision secure credentials directly into the embedded element from iTunes or add new by taking a photo from the iSight camera.

Adrian continued that “While Apple has clearly indicated their intent to launch this in the USA in the first instance we anticipate that Australia will be a focus as a fast follower to this initial roll-out. As Australia has one of the highest rates of contactless availability Cuscal is excited to welcome the new Apple capability and provide our clients with a quick-to-market solution ready for the Australian Apple launch.”

“When we can we will incorporate this functionality within Cuscal’s payment platform, as well as within Cuscal’s mobile banking and payment suite.

“As a major Australian issuer we intend to be on the frontline of this exciting new development by Apple, allowing our clients to continue to be at the forefront of mobile payments.

“We believe that a combination of Apple’s NFC based solution and Cuscal’s HCE offering will finally bring an end to the Secure Element (SE) wars and allow consumers to access NFC payments on the device of their choice at an affordable price point,” he concluded.

Cuscal & CUA launch Asia-Pac’s first HCE solution

Posted on July 14, 2014July 31, 2024 by Uberbrand

Sydney, 14 July 2014: Cuscal, and Australia’s largest customer-owned financial institution, CUA, today announced the first commercial rollout of a mobile payments application using HCE (Host Card Emulation) to turn an NFC-enabled smartphone running the latest Android operating system (KitKat 4.4 or later), into a ‘tap and pay’ payments device.

As of today, CUA cardholders can download the redi2PAY app from the Google Play Store to make mobile payments at the over 100,000 contactless terminals already rolled out around Australia.

With confidential information held encrypted, the app offers a secure and ‘card-less’ method of payment for CUA cardholders.

CUA’s commercial rollout is the first from amongst Cuscal’s client base, since the Australian payments leader first trialled HCE-based mobile payments in March 2014.

“Cuscal is proud to be able to work with CUA to bring this truly ‘game changing’ mobile payments solution to its customers,” said Adrian Lovney, General Manager of Product & Service at Cuscal.

“Australians love their smart phones, and with HCE, we have been able to develop a cost-effective mobile payments solution that will allow our clients, like CUA, remain ahead of consumer demand.”

CUA Chief Executive Officer, Chris Whitehead said: “While other tap and go payment technology is available, this is the first in Asia Pacific to use HCE technology. It requires no other tag or sticker to be attached to your mobile phone – you simply download the CUA redi2PAY app and off you go.”

“Our announcement takes us one step closer to becoming a cardless and more mobile society.”

“Whilst many of our competitors are charging customers a separate fee for having ‘tap and go’ capability on their phone, we are providing this at no cost, as part of our ongoing better-value service offering.”

“As a customer-owned financial institution, our model enables us to provide better value to customers in the form of lower rates and fees, and more accessible services. And this rightly positions CUA as a credible alternative to the ‘big banks’.”

“CUA is also determined to attract new customers and in particular younger customers. We believe our ‘Life rich banking’ proposition resonates with today’s younger generations but we also need to offer the latest capabilities to meet their expectations of convenience.”

‘Life rich banking’ is at the heart of what CUA is about, assisting our customers to enrich their lives through delivering consistently better-value banking,” Mr Whitehead said.

Bringing HCE mobile payments to market with redi2PAY
Following Google’s support for HCE in Android 4.4 KitKat, which was announced in October last year, Cuscal began developing the redi2PAY mobile payments application in house, with the aim of offering a market-leading solution to its financial institution clients.

Brian Parker, Cuscal’s Chief Information Officer, was the first person to perform a live HCE-based Visa payWave transaction using the new solution with the purchase of two packets of Tim Tams at a 7 Eleven in Sydney’s CBD on 17 March 2014. An official trial commenced to test and refine the application shortly thereafter.

Cuscal has now made the solution available to its Australian client base as part of its broad suite of mobility services; either as a complete client-branded mobile application as with CUA, or via an application programming interface (API). Cuscal has designed the redi2PAY mobility suite with an ongoing development cycle, to ensure its clients remain at the forefront of technological innovation.

About the technology
By incorporating single use tokens as part of the approach, the application allows consumers to make a number of transactions even when the mobile is out of internet coverage range.
Transactions are incredibly fast with the phone powering the NFC chip, providing the consumer with a quick and easy payments process.

By utilising the HCE technology there is no requirement for additional steps from third parties, such as trusted service managers, handset manufacturers or telecoms providers, making it faster to take products to market and providing Cuscal’s clients with a cost effective solution.

Stephen Karpin, Group Country Manager for Visa in Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific said: “Visa is focused on making next generation commerce a reality. With 47%¹ of face to face Visa transactions in Australia already taking place via Visa payWave contactless technology, mobile is the obvious next step. We are delighted to be working with Cuscal to bring cloud based mobile payments to market.”

How redi2PAY works for CUA customers

CUA redi2PAY can now be downloaded by CUA Visa cardholders to a compatible Google Android device (Nexus 5, Nexus 7, and newer HTC and Samsung smart phones, among others).
Customers then wave their mobile phones over secure, contactless point-of-sale terminals at the checkout in order to make payments, looking out for the contactless Visa payWave symbol.
The app and phone pass a series of messages between the phone, the point of sale terminal and Cuscal’s servers, either authorising or declining the transaction.
These transactions are protected by Cuscal’s Vigil fraud bureau service, an industry-leading fraud prevention and protection suite, which has more than two million cards under management.

About CUA
As Australia’s largest customer-owned financial institution, CUA provides banking services to more than 400,000 Australians across the country and is emerging as a competitive force in Australian banking. CUA is 100 per cent owned by its customers.

For more information, please visit: www.cua.com.au

¹VisaNet (May, 2014)

Cuscal begins national rediATM fleet refresh

Posted on June 25, 2014July 31, 2024 by Uberbrand

Next generation rediATMs offer extensive withdraw and self-service functionality

Sydney, 25 June 2014: End to end payments leader Cuscal has commenced of a national refresh of Cuscal-owned rediATM machines. The combined $17 million software and hardware upgrade, which will be completed by June 2015, will replace Cuscal’s existing fleet with 1,200 next generation rediATMs that will provide scheme participants and their cardholders with extensive future ready withdrawal and self-service functionality.

The new rediATM roll-out follows the recent transition of all Cuscal driven rediATMs to the Windows 7 operating system and the successful completion of a public pilot of other new rediATM software capabilities at select locations in Sydney.

“After approximately eight months of build, test and certification we are now ready to publicly roll-out our new ATM software and hardware,” said Adrian Lovney, General Manager: Product and Service, Cuscal.

Future ready capabilities already built into the new ATMs include Near Field Communication (NFC) readers for mobile payments, bar code readers, as well as cash and cheque deposit with real time credit.
Cuscal’s new software platform will also significantly advance the functionality of the new rediATMs and better represent rediATM scheme participants to their cardholders through a more personalised and tailored service.

“This phased approach will introduce new functionality such as favourite transactions, issuer branding and issuer advertising to our network and also sets the framework for many new features and enhancements to be built and deployed over coming years,” said Mr. Lovney. “As other networks show signs of consolidation, the new rediATM network will enable our members to provide an advanced withdrawal and self-service channel that puts them on a par with Australia’s bigger financial networks at a fraction of the investment required for an ATM network this size.”

This announcement also closely follows the news that Cuscal has formed an ATM access partnership UnionPay, China’s largest card scheme with over 4.2 billion cards on issue. UnionPay cardholders who visit Australia from April onwards are already able to draw cash from approximately 2,500 of the rediATM branded machines operated by Cuscal and the National Australia Bank.

Adopting a philosophy of partnering and never competing with clients, Cuscal is the ‘brand behind the brand’ to many organisations which require safe, innovative payment options for cost-effective transactional banking services.

About rediATM
The rediATM network is one of Australia’s largest ATM networks. With over 3,000 rediATMs across Australia, it partners with over 100 financial institutions including credit unions, building societies and banks.

The rediATM network provides direct charge free access to over 8 million Australian cardholders.

Cuscal welcomes UnionPay to rediATM network

Posted on June 18, 2014July 30, 2024 by Uberbrand

Sydney, Wednesday 18 June 2014: On his first trip to Australia, China UnionPay’s President Shi Wenchao was formally welcomed by Cuscal’s Managing Director Craig Kennedy where they officially launched a joint ATM access partnership at a ceremony at the company’s Sydney headquarters attended by His Excellency Huaxin Li, General Consul, Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Sydney.

Established in 2002, UnionPay has become a central and pivotal part of China’s bankcard industry with over 4 billion cards on issue and the agreement with Cuscal provides UnionPay’s cardholders with immediate access to the rediATM network across Australia.

Managing Director of Cuscal, Craig Kennedy said:

“Our tourism industry is a significant contributor to the national economy employing over half a million Australians and there is no doubt China and the growing Chinese tourism market is integral to Australia’s future economy.

Investment and innovation are key to that growth continuing and ensuring Australia’s financial system infrastructure is robust, secure and able to meet the needs of these visitors while they here is a top priority.

The Cuscal business model is centered on stimulating competition within Australia’s banking sector and promoting new and innovative forms of payments with cost-effective transactional banking services for its partners.

Cuscal is delighted to welcome President Shi Wenchao on his first visit to Australia and excited to partner with UnionPay – the rediATM network is configured and live, ready to accept UnionPay cardholders and we welcome them to our network.”

According to Tourism Research Australia data released in April 2014, China now accounts for 20 percent of all first time holiday visitors to Australia1 and remains Australia’s top trip expenditure market increasing 16 percent to $4.8 billion during 2013. Chinese visitors to Australia¹ are the most valuable inbound tourism market with 700,000 visiting per year spending an average AUD$7,000 per visit, and the forecast is that number will exceed one million tourists who will collectively contribute $10 billion2 to the Australian economy by 2018.

The number of Chinese holiday visitors² coming to Australia for the first time increased by 27 percent across 2013 underpinning an increase in accommodation nights of 22 percent and a 32 percent increase in trip expenditure up to $1.5 billion.

As the largest card issuer in the world, UnionPay has a unique understanding of where their customers are going, what they are spending their money on and how they want to transact and pay for their purchases. President Shi Wenchao revealed research from across 2013 showed Chinese shoppers now contribute 24% of tax free shopping on a global basis and account for almost a quarter of all transactions worldwide while the average UnionPay transaction in Australia was AU$800.

“We know our cardholders are travelling to Australia for business, leisure or study and are only allowed to carry a maximum US$5,000 cash on each trip so their UnionPay card is a critical payment alternative. The success of our business model is built around issuing cards and securing a global footprint of acceptance for those cards and to that end, it is our aim that 80 percent of merchants and 90 percent of ATMs in Australia will be accepting UnionPay cards within the next 18 to 24 months. Extending the footprint where our cardholders are accepted both with merchants and ATM’s is key to our continuing growth and Cuscal was a natural partner of choice for UnionPay with the size and reach of their rediATM network across Australia. The agreement we are announcing with Cuscal today is a positive step forward that ensures we can deliver our cardholders immediate access to one of the most reliable, robust and secure cards and payments networks while they are here,” he said.

Under the new partnership between Cuscal and UnionPay, cardholders visiting Australia will now be able to draw cash from 1,200 of the distinctive red Cuscal-driven rediATMs in addition to those operated by National Australia Bank. President Shi performed the first UnionPay card transaction at Cuscal’s onsite rediATM. The UnionPay partnership and access to rediATM will be promoted via a gradual roll-out of UnionPay logo decals on the ATMs, as well as on-screen promotions, UnionPay’s website and inbound tourism brochures.

About UnionPay International
UnionPay International, a subsidiary of China UnionPay engaging in international business, is committed to attracting global partners with its membership system, expanding the UnionPay card acceptance network, increasing the issuance and use of UnionPay card, promoting the cross-border application of innovative payment and enhancing the international influence of the UnionPay brand.

At present, through its cooperation with over 300 institutions across the globe, UnionPay International has extended its card acceptance network to more than 140 countries and regions, and UnionPay cards have been issued in more than 30 countries and regions. UnionPay International is providing excellent, efficient and secure cross-border payment service to the largest group of cardholders in the world and increasingly convenient localized service to more and more overseas UnionPay cardholders.

For more information on UnionPay International, please visit: www.UnionPayintl.com.

About rediATM
The rediATM network is one of Australia’s largest ATM networks, with over 3,000 rediATMS across Australia and partnered with over 100 financial institutions including credit unions, building societies and banks.

The rediATM network provides direct charge free access to over 8 million Australian cardholders’.

For further information on the rediATM network please visit www.rediatm.com.au

¹ http://www.tra.gov.au/publications/latest-ivs-report.html
² http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-04/china-tourism-boom/4732668

Cuscal launch first HCE mobile payment trial

Posted on March 27, 2014July 31, 2024 by Uberbrand

Cuscal’s mobile contactless payment solution enables quick and seamless provisioning – an Australian first delivering tomorrow’s world today

Sydney, 27 March 2014: End-to-end payments leader Cuscal has today announced the launch of the first trial of a HCE (Host Card Emulation)-based mobile payment capability, for Visa cardholders, in Australia and the Asia-Pacific.

The future-ready solution has been developed by Cuscal in Sydney and when launched commercially, will provide Australian consumers with greater choice when it comes to making secure payments with their mobile phones.

The Cuscal HCE mobile payment solution effectively turns an NFC-enabled phone running the latest version of the Android KitKat mobile operating system into a contactless payment device. With confidential payments data¹ stored in a secure cloud, it provides a strong level of security.

When commercially available, the solution will enable Visa cardholders whose cards are issued by one of Cuscal’s financial institution clients to use their mobile phone to make contactless payments via existing Visa payWave contactless point-of-sale terminals that are widely available in Australia. Sensitive payments data is stored in Cuscal’s secure cloud service which the mobile phone connects with via the cellular network.

A pilot team of Cuscal staff cardholders have begun testing the HCE capability over the last week. Following the successful completion of the trial, Cuscal aims to make the solution available to its Australian client base in the middle of this year as part of its broad suite of mobility services; either as a complete client-branded mobile application, or via an application programming interface (API).

This will allow Cuscal clients to offer innovative mobile payment solutions to their customers, while minimising upfront development costs by leveraging this secure and cost-effective solution.

Adrian Lovney, General Manager of Product & Service at Cuscal, said: “Cuscal’s HCE mobile payments solution is a shining example of Australian innovation delivering tomorrow’s world today. Getting payments inside phones has traditionally been difficult because of the need to coordinate multiple parties such as trusted service managers, handset manufacturers and telecommunication providers. The HCE approach simplifies this while maintaining the highest level of payment security for cardholders.

“A level of openness will be built into Cuscal’s foundation mobile application offering, so we can continue to develop the HCE mobile payment solution in line with partner demand and device innovation as well as ensure that it can be integrated with the New Payments Platform (NPP) when it is ready,” he said.

Stephen Karpin, Group Country Manager for Visa in Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific said: “Australia is again leading the charge in payments innovation and we are delighted to work with Cuscal on this trial to help make next generation commerce a reality. With 40% of face to face Visa transactions in Australia already taking place via the Visa payWave contactless technology, it is important to develop the infrastructure to deliver secure mobile payments to the consumer.”

Jason Murray, General Manager Products & Marketing, CUA, said: “It’s exciting that our key payments partner is developing cutting edge mobile payments infrastructure, which we at CUA will be able to leverage for the benefit of our customers in the future.”
Brian Parker, Cuscal’s Chief Information Officer, was the first person to perform a live HCE-based Visa payWave transaction using the new solution with the purchase of two packets of Tim Tams at a 7 Eleven in Sydney’s CBD on 17 March 2014.

Mr. Parker says Google’s Android KitKat operating system, combined with the security of Cuscal’s cloud service and Visa’s network, will provide clients with the highest level of assurance around security whilst being able to access future mobile payments technology and reducing the impact of upfront development costs.

“Increasingly, NFC technology is being developed in the cloud and maintained by trusted technology providers; this is the future of payments,” said Mr. Parker. “Importantly this solution is provisioned securely with multiple layers of protection built-in.”

“Cuscal’s client-branded mobile payments solution, incorporating HCE, will be refreshed and updated on a continual basis to accommodate new functionality in line with device evolution, industry innovation, new payment channels, market demand and innovation within our own ATM, payments and switching environment. We also plan to make HCE payments capability available to our clients via an API.”

Additional points:

The Cuscal-Visa HCE mobile payments capability must first be downloaded by the Visa cardholder to a compatible Google Android device (Nexus 5, Nexus 7, and newer HTC and Samsung smartphones, among others).
Recent research from Telsyte shows that of the 15 million smartphone users in Australia at the end of 2013, Android leads the way, with slightly over 50 percent of the market.
The customer can then wave their mobile phone over secure, contactless point-of-sale terminals in order to make payments and should look out for the contactless symbol at the payment terminal.
The application and phone pass a series of messages between the phone and Cuscal’s servers, either authorising or declining the transaction.
Like others processed by Cuscal, these transactions are protected by Cuscal’s Vigil fraud bureau service, an industry-leading fraud prevention and protection suite, which has more than two million cards under management.

¹ Such as encryption keys, card numbers or PINs.

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Author: Uberbrand