UZKART, Uzbekistan’s national payment system includes 28 participating banks issuing more than 8,5 million cards. UZKART needed to replace its DUET based legacy payments processing infrastructure to cope with the rapid growth in the country’s payments business. Card and POS numbers have been increasing at 25-30% per annum, while transaction volumes have been doubling each year. Additionally UZKART wished to broaden its business offering by being able to issue and acquire internationally branded cards, while meeting the highest standards for data security and fraud management.

BPC’s award winning SmartVista suite was chosen after a competitive bid process as it was able to support the significant demands inherent in running a nationwide payments infrastructure. SmartVista’s broad range of capabilities effectively support and manage payments across all channels, including POS, branch, Internet, and mobile applications. From simple credit and debit cards to sophisticated loyalty programs and multi-application smart cards, SmartVista supports all aspects of card management. In addition, SmartVista has been certified by the world’s leading payment brands, including American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard, and Visa together with certification for EMV issuing and acquiring.

The UZKART implementation will also include support for EMV smart card technology and BPC will be leading the project to replace DUET in Uzbekistan’s ATM, POS and kiosk networks to allow them accept EMV transactions. Pilot testing for EMV is planned for the first half of 2011 with full rollout foreseen by year end. Migration to SmartVista will also expedite the production of cards and terminals and will introduce e-commerce capabilities for the first time.

“The challenges in a complete replacement of our national payments processing system are complex, demanding the very best technology and experience in undertakings of this size,” commented Shukhrat Fayzullaev, CEO, Common Republican Processing Centre. “BPC has provided great value in advising on migration strategies and we have every confidence in SmartVista to meet our growth plans while improving the services available to our cardholders and banks.”

“This is not the first time BPC has been tasked with modernizing a national processing infrastructure and we are proud to be playing a role in the transformation of Uzbekistan’s payment industry,” commented Vasily Grigoriev, CEO, BPC Banking Technologies. “We are looking forward to working with UZKART and the country’s banks to allow them to offer the very latest card payment services to their customers.”