The regional cards utility will provide banks and other credit providers with access to the technology and business systems under a shared service model. It will allow financial institutions to transform payment card services and re-engineer back office processes without the normal associated risks.
Chris Mitchell, managing director of EDS Australia, said: The regulation of interchange fees by the Reserve Bank has opened up the payment card market and placed pressure on financial institutions to remain competitive. Our utility provides card processing for multiple institutions, driving down costs by up to 50% and allowing them to deliver new customer services that are quite separate and unique. We’re offering payment and card providers the latest technology, vastly improved economies of scale and rapid time to market for new products.
The regional cards utility currently processes in excess of 70 million transactions per month across both issued and acquired transactions. The infrastructure developed by EDS has an initial capacity to process 10 to 15 million card accounts.
