Level Four ATM testing makes Finextra Innovation Showcase
Level Four, the provider of open standards-based ATM testing software, and Ascert, a provider of test automation tools, today announced that Finextra has selected the implementation of their combined end-to-end ATM testing solution at Barclays to feature in its first 'Innovation Showcase'. Finextra, the independent newswire and information source for the financial technology community, sought to highlight some of the most interesting financial technology developments over the past 12 months and chose the project to feature in its 'Retail Channel Delivery and Management' category.
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Finextra summarised the project in its showcase feature, published on 9 February 2009: "Barclays has deployed an end-to-end automated testing solution from Level Four and Ascert to support the biggest ATM refresh project by a UK bank in over a decade. The bank is moving away from proprietary ATM software and migrating more than 3,000 ATMs to an open standards environment, implementing Windows and packaged software such as BASE24 and ProCash."
"The project is also unique in the extent of its collaboration between the bank and its technology partners, Level Four and Ascert. Together, they have developed an advanced strategy for the rapid testing of the entire end-to-end transaction process, taking automated ATM testing to a completely new level. The testing environment went into pilot stage in September 2008. To cope with this complex environment, Barclays has implemented BRIDGE:test from Level Four to automate the testing of the entire ATM stack and VersaTest from Ascert for message and host testing."
Elton Cane, strategy director at Finextra, commented: "What were we looking for? Newness, uniqueness and impact; clever ways of solving a problem; and projects at the leading edge of new industry trends." Commenting on the Barclays project, Cane added: "This kind of behind-the-scenes work, as well as being innovative in its scale and approach, will make it much easier for the bank to deliver new services via the ATM channel and be seen as innovative by its customers."
Martin Macmillan, Business Development Director at Level Four, added: "This is a real endorsement of the value that innovation can bring to banks' ATM networks. The complexities of open standards environments call for an end-to-end approach to ATM testing. Through automation, banks can carry out more extensive tests with greater frequency, enabling them to accommodate regular product upgrades and maximise the value of their ATM networks."
Mike Wainwright, Business Development Director in Ascert's London office, said: "The success of this project really validates the need for a rethink in end-to-end ATM testing to achieve the best possible results. We look forward to building on the successes already achieved by working collaboratively with Level Four and replicating that success with our other customers in the future."