Source: Level Four Software
Level Four Software, the leading provider of ATM test and development software, has expanded its global footprint with the launch of a new company in the Americas. Level Four Americas LLC has been established in Miami, Florida, to bring Level Four's ATM Channel Development Suite to customers in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Jorge Fernandez, the founder and former CEO of Capture Systems, a US-based company that pioneered the concept of off-premise ATMs in Latin America and the Caribbean, joins Level Four Americas as president and CEO. Having spent more than 15 years building sales, revenue and profitability with payments processing products and services Fernandez has extensive knowledge of the electronic funds transfer industry in the Americas.
"With Jorge's in-depth knowledge of the domestic ATM environment, we recognised a huge business opportunity in the Americas for Level Four's ATM test and development tools and we will now be aggressively targeting both North America and Latin America as key expansion areas," said Martin Macmillan, CEO of Level Four Software Ltd.
Jorge Fernandez, president of Level Four Americas LLC said: "No one in the Americas can currently deliver the in-depth level of ATM testing functionality that Level Four is already delivering to major banks throughout Europe and the Middle East. Level Four's tools support rapid functional changes across ATM networks and provide automated testing from the desktop. This positively impacts time to market of new functionality and delivers crucial competitive advantage for banks competing in aggressive consumer markets."
Included in Level Four's ATM Channel Development Suite of ATM testing and development tools are key components that will be of specific interest to North American retail banks. With the passing of the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21), that becomes effective on 28 October 2004, domestic banks will for the first time be able to accept electronic images of cheques for processing.
For banks that are considering the introduction of depositing and scanning cheques at the ATM, extensive testing of this new functionality is vital. Level Four's Cheque Processing Module will enable banks to ensure this new functionality is fully tested, before offering the service to customers.
Banks in the region, particularly in Latin America, are now starting to look seriously at chip card migration projects. The experience that Level Four has gained with major European financial institutions who have already migrated to use chip will be invaluable. Level Four has assisted some of the largest financial institutions in Europe and the Middle East achieve EMV compliance, retaining a product philosophy of responding to customer's needs. The introduction of smartcards is seen as a major advance in combating increasing levels of ATM fraud by providing additional security measures.
In addition, as domestic banks throughout the Americas migrate from existing OS/2 based legacy systems to the Microsoft Windows platform, extensive ATM network testing will be required. The ATM Channel Development Suite has inbuilt flexibility to adapt to a bank's individual demands and can integrate with any type or combination of ATM hardware and software, making it an extremely versatile test and development platform.
Level Four's Miami office will act as a hub to provide local support and training for clients implementing products within the Level Four ATM Channel Development Suite. It will facilitate product customisations and development to support the local needs of Americas clients in both English and Spanish.