June 2, 2005

Banking Production Centre (BPC), a leading electronic payments and e-business solutions provider and systems integrator, took part in Cards Middle East 2005 conference and exhibition, which was held from 15 to 18 May 2005 at Al Bustan Rotana Hotel, Dubai, UAE. Cards Middle East is the most respected regional event in the payment cards industry which addresses the key issues of card business and technology development. It was the third consecutive year that BPC participated in Cards Middle East, this time showcasing its products jointly with it’s partner Gulf Business Machines (GBM).

Cards Middle East 2005 brought together senior decision-makers from almost all leading financial institutions and technology firms of the region. The representatives of several hundreds of banks, IT and marketing companies attended the conference and the exhibition and benefited from this excellent opportunity to learn and network.

The conference program of Cards Middle East 2005 featured speakers from MasterCard, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Oman International Bank, National Bank of Kuwait, Mashreq Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Burgan Bank, Jordan Bank and many more. On the first day of the conference attendees analyzed card market dynamics, discussed EMV-migration, security and risk management issues. The second day was dedicated to the latest technologies, outsourcing, mobile payments and Shariah compliant credit cards.

This year has seen unprecedented growth in the exhibition and the conference, with more participating companies and the conference program covering a wider range of issues that challenge Middle Eastern financial organizations. The banking community recognized that Cards Middle East once again confirmed its position as the most significant event for the cards industry of the region.

BPC participated in the exhibition held in the framework of Cards Middle East. Every year the world industry leaders take this opportunity to showcase to the target audience their innovative products. Among the Cards Middle East 2005 exhibitors were well-respected providers of hardware and software solutions for the financial sector: ACG, ACI Worldwide, Card Tech Limited, eFunds, TietoEnator, Thales, Eracom Technologies, Austria Card, Trub Switzerland and many more.

This year BPC combined efforts with it’s partner Gulf Business Machines (GBM), distributor of selected IBM Products and Services in the Gulf countries, to display SmartVista suite of software products that can be mixed and matched to build flexible solutions covering all areas of transaction processing and card management business. Under the agreement with BPC, Gulf Business Machines markets and supplies SmartVista products in the region.

SmartVista suite of products received keen interest among the exhibition attendees. Multiple live demonstrations of SmartVista Front-Office and SmartVista Back-Office systems made by BPC and GBM highlighted SmartVista’s strength in local Middle East contexts for a wide range of banks and MSP/TPPs in the region. The market players were especially interested to learn how BPC/GBM alliance will deliver the projects and arrange support and maintenance of the solution.

Another hot topic which brought about the wide interest was EMV technology both in fraud prevention and multi-application aspects. BPC’s ability to provide EMV-compliant solutions for the financial institutions to meet complex requirements of EMV quickly and cost-effectively was widely discussed.

Cards Middle East 2005 was an excellent opportunity for BPC to strengthen its existing business contacts in the region. Currently BPC is in the discussion with a number of Middle East banks to assist them in bringing their processing infrastructure in line with the industry latest requirements and their particular business needs.

While active networking at the booth BPC and GBM specialists made new contacts with IT-companies and banks from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Lebanon, Libya, UAE and Iran, that would help to accelerate the promotion of SmartVista solutions and would open up opportunities to expand BPC’s presence in the region.

The joint appearance at Cards Middle East 2005 is expected to further strengthen and expand the relationship between GBM and BPC. Headquartered in Dubai, GBM is working hard to help BPC win new challenging projects and is planning to start distributing SmartVista suite of products through its offices outside the UAE.