MEPS COMPLETES DEVELOPMENT OF ATM/DEBIT CARD STANDARD SPECIFICATION FOR THE INDONESIAN FINANCIAL INDUSTRY

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – March 16, 2009 - The National Standard Indonesian Chip Card Specification (NSICCS) for ATM and Debit cards, developed by Malaysian Electronic Payment System (1997) Sdn Bhd (MEPS), was officially launched by Bank Indonesia (Central Bank of Indonesia) recently.

MEPS, Malaysia’s national interbank network service provider, was appointed as the consultant to develop the NSICCS by the Indonesia’s Switching Operator’s Forum which consists of the leading switching network operators namely PT Pembayaran Elektronis Artajasa, PT Rintis Sejahtera and PT Daya Network Lestari. The objective of the NSICCS is to create a secure, efficient and robust electronic payment system for Indonesia’s financial industry.

According to MEPS Group Managing Director, Dato’ Mohd Hata Robani, MEPS together with its technology partner, Castles Technology Co. Ltd, developed the card specification to maintain conformity and interoperability among banks and switching network operators.

”The design and architecture of NSICCS are based on the international standards and specifications of ISO 7816, EMV and Global Platform. The key benefits of the new chip-based cards are multifaceted as the chip has superior processing technology and is tamper-proof. As such, it will eliminate fraud or clone cards in the market,” said Dato’ Mohd Hata.

The NSICCS also provides for future developments such as adding a stored value card and loyalty applications. This will allow better flexibility for the banks to add financial applications for their customers in the future.

"With the PMPC in Malaysia and NSICCS for Indonesia in our portfolio, we will continue to explore opportunities to offer consulting services to other countries in particular countries that have yet to implement chip-based cards,” Dato’ Mohd Hata added.

MEPS was also instrumental in the implementation of Malaysia’s Payment Multipurpose Card (chip-based ATM card) in Year 2003.