Friday 3rd June 2005
Dashen Bank and ACI Introduce Visa Cards to Ethiopia
Dashen Bank has obtained a licence to use e-payment technology to become the first bank in Ethiopia to issue and acquire Visa cards.
Applied Communications Inc. Worldwide, a leading international provider of enterprise e-payment solutions, has licensed its BASE24 e-payment processing solution to the private commercial bank. The bank has also chosen ACI Card Management System and ACI Smart Chip Manager software to support the bank’s card operations business.
Dashen Bank will deploy ACI software to issue cards and authorise, route and switch both ATM and POS transactions while meeting processing requirements for EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) smart card transactions.
This project will be carried out with the assistance of SS Communications, ACI’s local partner in Ethiopia and an HP NonStop accredited support partner.
Dashen Bank is the first bank in Ethiopia to be appointed a principal member of Visa. The bank’s decision to select ACI’s world-class technology was prompted by a number of key requirements including the need for a scalable solution to meet aggressive transaction growth objectives, support for multiple delivery channels and devices, and the ability to offer world-class card payment services to over 260,000 customer accounts in Ethiopia.
“We have a reputation for harnessing the advanced capabilities of IT to improve our service to customers,” said Ato Lulseged Teferi, President of Dashen Bank.
“Our decision to invest in ACI technology is no exception. ACI is the recognised market leader in consumer payments software, and its BASE24 system meets our current requirements while providing the flexibility to enhance our service offerings in the future.”
“We are delighted to take the lead in providing Ethiopian consumers with the convenience of payment cards,” added Lulseged.
“This marks a significant milestone in our development, and we expect to coincide the launch of the cards with our 10th anniversary in December 2005. Between now and then, the project team will be hard at work with the installation, testing and certification of the payments infrastructure.”
ACI technology will initially support ATM and POS delivery channels at Dashen Bank, with the option to support the emerging Internet and mobile channels in future. With ACI, Dashen Bank will now also be able to support all card types including credit, debit and smart cards. The bank will also benefit from interfaces to global credit and debit networks.
“ACI’s consultancy approach and tailor-made solutions can help developing banks deliver new and enhanced customer service while giving increased return on investment,” said Richard Launder, managing director of ACI Worldwide EMEA. “With ACI’s technology in place, Dashen Bank can address a wide range of processing needs for its e-payment operation, including multi-currency and the issuance of smart cards and e-commerce, all on a world-class platform that delivers a reliable and scalable transaction infrastructure.”
Notes
The Banker - an industry publication - recently named Dashen Bank its 2004 Bank of the Year for Ethiopia. This is the fourth consecutive year that Dashen Bank has received this award. The awards reflect outstanding quality and innovation in the financial world, and the 106 individual country winners represent the cream of the global banking community.
Dashen Bank holds the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce award for Best Enterprise and Most Respected CEO award for its president, Ato Lulseged Teferi.
Today Dashen serves over 260,000 deposit customers and speaks of deposit balance of Birr 2.5 Billion.
ENDS