Mellon Solutions introduces the latest trends in card-based transactions

Kew note speakers from Mellon and Gemalto showcase the upcoming trends in smart card transactions

Mellon Solutions, top provider of specialized solutions and services to financial institutions, presented last week the upcoming trends in card-based transactions during an event that was hosted by CaSys International and attended by representatives of all the major financial institutions in Macedonia. Key note speakers at the event were experts from Mellon Solutions partner, Gemalto, the world leader in digital security and a pioneer in card related technologies.

The presentations focused on two major developments in the card business, that are going to affect banks and the Macedonian market. The first is the mandate of Visa & Mastercard that all off-line capable cards issued by European banks after 2011 should use DDA (dynamic data authentication), instead of the existing SDA (standard data authentication), as a means to enhance the security of card-based transactions.

The second trend discussed during Mellon Solutions’ event, addressed the increasingly popular business case of contactless payments. Currently there are 80 million contactless cards worldwide, after only 3.5 years since the first pilots. Contactless cards represent a convenient and innovative means of payment, as users have only to tap their card on a reader for the transaction to take place, making it ideal for small, routine payments. For both consumers and merchants, this translates into faster transactions and thus smaller queues and increased capacity per cashier/point of sale. 

“Contactless technology combined with the storage and processing capabilities of chip cards, brings tremendous opportunities for financial institutions. From existing deployments, issuers are witnessing increased revenues from increased card usage, greater appeal to younger customer segments, as well as new revenue streams from incorporating additional functionalities such as public transportation passes and loyalty programs,” explained Viktorija Nestoroska, General Manager of Mellon Solutions.

To emphasize the benefits of contactless payments, Fodor Boldizsar, Regional Business Director from Gemalto, quoted two renowned retailers on their experience from accepting payments with contactless cards. According to McDonald’s former CEO, Jack Greenberg “Unit sales jumped 1% for every six seconds saved during drive-through lanes”. Similarly, Key Morrow, CIO at 7-Eleven said “Customers using these cards shopped at the stores more frequently than they had before, and spent more during each trip.”

Concluding, Ms Nestoroska said “Both these issues are becoming key for banks in Macedonia –DDA migration as a means to decrease fraud and of course meet with the apposite deadline, and Contactless as a means to increase business and competitiveness. Together with Gemalto, Mellon Solutions has assisted the majority of banks in Macedonia to migrate to EMV, and we are once again ready to support them every step of the way to successfully and cost-effectively incorporate the new trends and mandates in card payments.”


About Mellon Solutions
Mellon Solutions is a member of Mellon Group of Companies and was founded in 2003 in Skopje. The company provides specialized products and services that facilitate the transactions and interactions of organizations with strong consumer business, such as Retail Banks, Public Utilities, Telecommunications Providers, the Automotive Industry and other Private Companies.