Network International is the first payment solution provider in the UAE to offer mobile POS (mPOS) devices

Visa confirms that the new cost-effective devices are EMV compliant

Mosambee mPOS is ideal for 'cash against delivery' businesses

Dubai, December 19, 2012: Visa, the leading global payments technology company, has announced the launch of mobile Point of Sale [mPOS] terminals in the UAE, an innovative and low cost initiative that has the potential to facilitate fast and secure card payments and grow the footprint of card acceptance across the country.

A mobile POS terminal is a secure device that can connect to most smart mobile phones and is capable of undertaking and validating card payments in the presence of the cardholder and saves the need to tender exact change or run to an ATM while paying for goods and services delivered home or purchased at non-traditional locations.

"The launch of mobile Point of Sale terminals is an important part of our long-term strategy to facilitate mobile payments," explained Marcello Baricordi, General Manager - UAE for Visa and Global Accounts Lead MENA. He further said, "The new initiative offers convenience, mobility and security to a wider base of our cardholders, revolutionizes our customer experience and enables merchants to have new options for sales transactions on the go. We are committed to bringing new ways to pay to the UAE in an effort to expand the reach and acceptance of the internationally trusted and secure Visa network."

He added: "Working closely with Network International and Synergistic Financial Networks enables us to provide our cardholders and client banks a secure, reliable and globally accepted form of payment through mobile devices. The mPOS terminals are the first to be EMV Chip and PIN compliant whereas other markets have only the Swipe version in use. The new mPOS payment facility has the ability to transform the revenues of smaller businesses and traders in a big way. By way of this launch, we see a huge opportunity to be at the forefront of mobile payment services."

In the UAE, mobile POS acceptance is being pioneered by leading payment solutions provider Network International in partnership with Synergistic Financial Network and is being piloted with two establishments that are involved with home delivery of food.  These mPOS terminals called Mosambee, the first-of-their-kind in the country, are EMV compliant - a global standard for inter-operation of integrated circuit cards and integrated card capable POS terminals, for authenticating credit and debit card transactions. 

"As a leading payment solutions provider in the UAE, Network International is constantly on the lookout to provide both its merchant and issuing partners with innovative solutions that are at the cutting edge of the industry," said Bhairav Trivedi, CEO, Network International. "We are pleased to be working with Visa on this exciting project which will transform the payment industry and open up fresh business avenues for our merchant partners."

Mosambee is an mPOS product developed by Synergistic Financial Networks, India and is being launched in the UAE and other parts of Asia with active support from Visa and will soon expand to other regions. Mosambee's EMV project in UAE was undertaken by teams in UAE and India under the guidance and direction of Alok Arora, the CEO of Synergistic Financial Networks. The company's Regional Head for MENA, Aditya Anand, has been instrumental for this project right from the outset to its fruition.

Alok Arora added: "By offering this new era of mobile POS terminals, we have plugged an important gap in the payment ecosystem. Easily compatible with mobile devices, Mosambee offers the highest levels of security, unmatched reliability and performance. Mosambee and Visa are pioneering the use of card payments in situations where cash was the only option. Together we expect to change the way card payments are made in the region."

The mPOS devices are compliant with EMV Chip and PIN security standards. This level of transaction authentication is considered the most secure form of transaction security and meets with the strict standards employed by Visa. "This is truly an important event for UAE and our region as it is for the first time within Asia Pacific, Central Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Americas that a full Chip and PIN capable mPOS device is being launched," explained Mohanish Agni, Head of Acceptance - MENA for Visa.

For merchants and card payment processing banks, it is a cost-effective option with mPOS terminals costing less than 10% the price of traditional terminals which are about AED 1,200 to AED 2,000. The innovative mPOS terminals will open new areas of card acceptance like home delivery or cash on delivery and are ideally suited for businesses such as fast food, groceries, online retailers and the like.

To find out about other news from Visa, please visit: www.visacemea.com/press

About Visa:
Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world's most advanced processing networks--VisaNet--that is capable of handling more than 10,000 transactions a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank, and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: Pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.

About Mosambee
Mosambee is the flagship product of Synergistic Financial Networks, a Mumbai / India firm started by professionals from the financial services and technology industries. The firm is creating innovative solutions from the epoch-making changes taking place in the payments market. In a short span of one year the firm has created a mobile point-of-sale solution certified for PCI-DSS compliance and in "live" operation in India. Mosambee has been integrated to leading payment gateways and can handle credit as well as debit cards from leading card-associations. Mosambee's architecture enables configuration for different countries with DIY (do-it-yourself) dashboards for Acquirers, Transaction Gateways & Multi-Location Merchants. The product has a slew of fraud-control and risk management tools built-in and is being enhanced continuously. With EMV support, Mosambee reaches an important and significant milestone. More details about Mosambee are available at www.mosambee.com.

About Network International 
Established in 1994, Network International LLC is the largest acquirer and one of the leading payment solutions providers in the region aimed at meeting the needs of banks, financial institutions and retailers. It is a Principal Member of Visa and MasterCard, offering customer the most comprehensive range of payment products and services in the Middle East and Africa, for both the Issuing and Acquiring segments of the electronic payments industry. Offerings include credit and debit card processing services, ATM management and monitoring, merchant acquiring and consumer finance applications. Network International provides consultancy services, including planning, designing, and developing new software and services.

Network International is the UAE's largest merchant acquirer for Credit and Debit Cards and the largest third-party processing vendor in the Middle East, capable of providing banks, financial institutions and retailers with complete end-to-end EMV-certified solutions.

For more information contact:
Venkat Iyer
BPG PR for VISA
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tel: +971 4 295 3456
Mob: +971 50 718 7383
Email: venkat@batespangulf.com

© Press Release 2012