European Payments Leader Expands Reseller Network, Technology Partners, and Unveils New eMission™ Data Preparation EMV Solution for U.S. Card Issuers

NEW YORK, New York – and MILAN, Italy, March 25, 2013 – European EMV migration and e- & m- payments leader TAS Group announced today that it has expanded its footprint in the USA to help speed efforts to migrate the U.S. banking and payment industry to the new EMV chip based payment standard.   Since 2002, TAS Group has successfully led similar EMV migration efforts throughout the EU and Middle East.  For example, today, more than 60 million cards are managed worldwide by TAS payment solutions.

The USA is the last of the G20 nations to adopt the new EMV chip payment standard, which will replace the traditional, less secure magnetic stripe on the back of U.S. debit and credit cards.  EMV chip cards reduce credit and debit card fraud, and provide a more secure and rewarding shopping experience for consumers.  The major international payment brands (VISA, MasterCard Amex and Discover) have announced EMV compliance requirements beginning with the first liability shift set for April 2013.

“We have implemented a broad range of EMV migration programs throughout the world,” said Valentino Bravi, Chief Executive Officer, TAS Group.  “The U.S EMV migration in scope and magnitude alone dwarfs all other EMV country migrations combined – it’s a technically complex and challenging migration process that will require a proven leader – one that U.S. issuers and acquirers can trust.  With more than 30 years of service, including the last 14 years conducting EMV migrations, we are ideally positioned to help support a secure and speedy U.S. EMV transition.”

“Over the past year TAS Group has been steadily investing in its U.S. operations, noted Ennio Ponzetto, U.S. Country Manager and payments industry veteran.  “Today we formally announced an expanded reseller network that includes leading EMV technology specialists B2 and SCIL added to our current established global partners that include DATACARD, VERIFONE , HP, IBM, ORACLE, and others.   In addition, we announced today the launch of our innovative eMission™ data preparation EMV solution designed to meet U.S. card issuers EMV and contactless requirements.”

About TAS Group:

Based in Europe with U.S. headquarters in Las Vegas, NV, TAS Group is a leading provider of software solutions for EMV cards payments systems, which include EMV cards lifecycle management, acquiring channels and terminal management, authorization systems fraud management and other EMV based payment solutions.  The company also offers innovative mobile payments products for mobile banking, mobile commerce and mobile e-Gov markets. For more than 30 years, TAS has served the world’s leading central banks and major banking groups in addition to top processors and some of the world’s most renowned broker dealers.  TAS Group is listed on the Italian Stock Exchange.  For more information visits www.tasgroup.eu