Unveiled at the CARTES 2006 exhibition, the alliance enables GALITT and Level Four to jointly target banks in France with Level Four's flagship ATM TrueTest product to deliver a comprehensive solution for testing open standards-based ATM networks.

GALITT's KaNest host testing product is used by almost every bank in France to test the messaging protocol used between acquiring devices and transaction processing systems. Additionally, GALITT's KaNest-ICC EMV Test Suites are used by major EMVCo accredited labs for compliance testing of EMV devices. With the French market now following the global trend and migrating to Windows based ATM software platforms, the need is emerging for a testing platform which is capable of automating regression testing of these next generation ATM applications which support the open XFS standard.

Recognising Level Four's global leadership in XFS-compliant ATM testing solutions and GALITT's dominance of the French test tool market, the two companies are now collaborating to offer the ATM TrueTest product to GALITT's extensive French customer base, and provide ongoing local support and consultancy through GALITT's office in Paris.

Level Four's ATM TrueTest provides an independent and flexible desktop-based testing environment for any Windows-based open standards (XFS) compatible ATM application. It supports comprehensive automation for end-to-end development and regression testing of ATM software in conjunction with a central host system and includes full EMV support.

Commenting on the partnership, Gérard Tchakgarian, President of GALITT said: "Our leadership within the French market, combined with the strengths of Level Four as the ATM testing leader, will bring to French banks an unrivalled solution to move forward with ATM technology and leverage the advantages of the XFS open standard. Our consultants, who are masters of the French payment systems, are now being trained to use the highly sophisticated ATM TrueTest tool so we cae can offer a dedicated service to our customers."

Nigel Walsh, CEO at Level Four said, "With banks across France looking to provide a more personalised ATM experience for their customers, they need the ability to automate application testing and roll out updates regularly and cost effectively. The move to open standards has created many challenges that ATM owners have not anticipated. The Windows application platform, for example, requires a thorough retest of the entire ATM network in conjunction with the central host each time an upgrade occurs as many new fault scenarios are introduced. Our ATM TrueTest product can also compliment GALITT's KaNest® host simulator and KaNest-ICC smart card simulator to deliver end-to-end functionality to the French market."

Effective from 6th November 2006, the partnership enables Level Four and GALITT to jointly approach GALITT customers with its ATM TrueTest product. GALITT will provide local implementation services, and ongoing consultancy and support services.