Aconite, the leading provider of EMV (Europay, MasterCard & Visa) smartcard technology solutions is today revealing its role in the full EMV migration of ComPass Visa Card to meet the need for more secure and versatile card payments in the Asia-Pacific region.
ComPass Visa is a DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited and Hutchison Whampoa Limited co-brand credit card. As the premier credit card in Hong Kong, it is using state-of-the art chip technology, providing loyalty dollars to be earned through card purchases and redeemed as discounts against further ComPass Visa purchases at the point of sale (POS).
ComPass Visa selected Aconite to assist in reinvigorating the ten year-old card proposition through a full EMV migration. It also implemented a complete new loyalty infrastructure combining chip and host-based loyalty features.
Aconite consultants carried out an EMV 'health check' in December 2004 before going on to manage the whole programme and EMV migration project. The programme began a limited pilot in March 2006 which was followed by a full public launch of the enhanced ComPass Visa proposition in June 2006.
Aconite was chosen to deliver the first full EMV card launch in Hong Kong because of their project management experience in large smart card programmes and their first class expertise in implementing EMV migrations.
The ComPass Visa New Proposition delivers a genuine, multi-application EMV card, based on Visa's Global Platform. The project required the effective management and co-ordination of multiple vendors and service providers to achieve a successful implementation. A new ComPass Visa POS infrastructure has been deployed and implemented, which provides both EMV capabilities for all common credit and debit brands as well as support for multiple, merchant-specific ComPass Visa loyalty programmes.
Vincent Chiang, Managing Director, Cards and Unsecured Loans, Consumer Banking, DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited said, "Aconite's help was vital to the success of the programme. It met our expectations by delivering a seamless transition for cardholders and merchants as well as enabling ComPass Visa to maintain its leading edge in the Hong Kong credit card and loyalty market."
Mike Woods, CEO of Aconite said, "A migration such as this is a major programme and project management challenge. Not only does it deliver long term security and global interoperability for ComPass Visa based on EMV, it also allows for the tailoring of loyalty programmes to meet individual merchant needs whilst reducing the time to market for new propositions. Aconite is proud to have made such a key contribution to this strategically important initiative."