TAS GROUP EXPANDS EMV COMPETENCE

CENTER TO USA

Support to U.S. Credit and Debit Cards Issuers

Must be Local to Meet U.S. Card Issuer EMV Deadlines

LAS VEGAS, NV. August 28, 2013 – The success of the U.S. banking and payment industry’s migration to secure new EMV chip and pin credit and debit cards will be contingent on each card issuer’s and processor’s ability to access the right EMV talent, technology and technical expertise. Given the scarcity of these resources in the U.S., small to mid-size independent and community banks and credit unions and the processors supporting them could be left at a major competitive disadvantage, says European-based EMV card and mobile payments leader TAS Group. www.tasgroup.us.com To meet this growing challenge, TAS Group announced today that it as has expanded its Global EMV Competence Center, substantially increasing technical support resources in Atlanta, Madrid, New York, Rome and Toronto to meet U.S. demand.

The USA is the last of the G20 nations to adopt the new EMV chip standard, moving away from magnetic stripe cards. EMV reduces card fraud, (which is currently in the tens of billions of dollars in the USA and increasing) and provides a more secure and rewarding shopping experience for U.S. consumers. VISA and MasterCard announced EMV roadmaps and deadlines for compliance beginning in 2013. Discover and American Express followed.

“The strengthening of the Global EMV Competence Center and deployment of new EMV Competence satellite support centers will help meet our U.S. customers needs by providing 24-hour around the clock service and support – locally,” said Olivier Sery, Head of the TAS Group EMV Competence Center.

“The ability of U.S. card issuers to maintain “top of wallet” status with their customers will be dependent on the timeliness of new EMV Chip card systems and good access to the right talent and know–how to support these new systems,” noted Ennio Ponzetto, United States Country Manager, TAS Group.

EMV Competence Center Facts:

Global EMV Competence Center http://www.tasgroup.eu/solutions/emv-solutions staffed with more than 180 EMV technical specialists.

A network of tech support centers in Atlanta, Madrid, New York, Rome and Toronto, designed to provide local support to card issuers.

Increased product support of the new eMission™ Data Preparation Platform and e-Online EMV solutions.

More than 30 million + EMV cards processed at TAS EMV Competence Center each year.

500 employees globally committed to making EMV the global standard in card payments.

Adaptation, product enhancements, and script development at all levels of the support network.

The task of implementing the new EMV credit and debit cards ultimately rests with U.S. banks and credit unions. As these institutions ramp EMV migration programs, they are turning to European technology suppliers for EMV technical expertise, products and support. EMV has been the standard in Europe since 2001. TAS Group sees this as a normal transitional process. However, many of these firms are already struggling to support current EMV migration programs. New U.S. EMV technical support needs will put added pressure on these companies and potentially delay card issuers’ go-to-market plans and EMV roadmap deadlines. To minimize this “scramble” for technical resources, firms are band aiding service and support by fixing from a distance. This will have a negative impact on U.S. card issuers EMV programs. TAS Group and its network of Partners in the U.S.A. are committed to assisting them by increasing direct and indirect support and applying over a decade of direct EMV experiences to ensure the successful and profitable adoption of EMV.

About TAS Group

Based in Italy with U.S. headquarters in Las Vegas, NV, TAS Group is a global leader of software solutions for electronic money, payment systems and financial markets. TAS Group www.tasgroup.us.com serves major global commercial and central banks as well as the main financial services centers. TAS Group has been at the forefront of the EMV migration efforts globally and its flagship platforms eMission™, e-Online™ for issuers and NET Acquirer™ for acquirers have been implemented in many large issuing and acquiring financial institutions worldwide. For more information, visit www.tasgroup.us.com

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