Banque Franco-Lao (BFL), a joint venture between BRED Banque Populaire subsidiary COFIBRED and Banque pour le Commerce Exterieur Lao (BCEL) - a bank owned by the State of Laos - opened in Vientiane in September 2010 and is now up and running with a private label debit card using infrastructures developed by GFG Group and hosted and managed by BRED I.T. in Thailand.

"GFG Group's collaboration with BRED Banque Populaire in Laos has enabled us to offer an end-to-end payment solution to BFL that includes not only our state-of-the-art issuing and acquiring solution CadencieTM but also payment switching functionality to drive ATMs and POS devices," says Miguel Warren, GFG Group's Vice President Sales, Asia.

GFG Group's CadencieTM connects BFL's payments network through Oracle's Flexcube retail banking system and also drives BFL's issuing (including instant issuing) and acquiring activities for its private label cards and Visa cards.

BRED I.T. is a subsidiary of BRED Banque Populaire, which is part of the Banque Populaire Caisse d'Epargne (BPCE) Group, the second largest banking group in France, which has subsidiaries in various countries, such as Djibouti and Vanuatu. BRED I.T. manages and processes services for multiple banks across multiple countries in the region, from its Thailand operation - including the service implemented by GFG Group for BFL. BRED I.T.'s aims for the project were to set a platform to develop payment infrastructures in the region, offering more security and payment options to their customers and to the local merchants.

The successful BFL project has cemented a platform for further collaboration between BRED I.T. and GFG Group as the partners look to future opportunities.

Claire Bonnerot, Card Manager at BRED, says BRED has been investigating further expansion opportunities in the region and GFG Group will play a key role in helping BRED I.T. secure those opportunities.

"GFG Groupoup's proven technology, flexibility and ability to deliver secure payment solutions combined well with BRED I.T.'s services to deliver a successful outcome for BFL. We are certain we will work well with GFG Group on future projects to launch innovative services, products and solutions to more clients," says Claire Bonnerot.

"GFG Group's Java-based CadencieTM solution is a modular, multi-institution card management system that enables the launch of new payment products up to 55% faster, with operational cost savings of up to 70 percent," says Miguel Warren.

With multiple implementations in Asia (the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, China) and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand), GFG Group's proven CadencieTM solution has become a leading card management system across the Asia Pacific.