General Manager of Bank of Iraq: we have issued (651, 660) A smart card

General Manager of Bank of Iraq: we have issued (651, 660) A smart card

(Voice of Iraq) - 29/09/2009

In the name of God the Merciful

Relations Service and Information
The Ministry of Finance
Baghdad

Implemented "to the directions of the Minister of Finance Baqir al-Zubaidi to introduce modern technology in the work of Iraqi banks


Professional staff has issued smart card (651, 660) A card during the past period.


He said Mr. Abdul-Hussein al-Yasiri General Manager Bank of Mesopotamia to staff for issuing smart card-issuing (635, 412) A card through Bank of Iraq and (624, 168) and through a bank branch governance noting "that all bank branches in Baghdad and the ( 47) branch "operate in the smart card project, as well as" on the branches of the central region.


He added that the work Yasiri is valid for activating the work in all provinces in Iraq, where next month will see the activation of the project (POS) which is the system under which a citizen smart card holder buying and selling as well as "on the subject of remittances and savings by using a smart card that will benefit the citizens of Iraq.

All the articles that we have seen on the smart cards was when each provinces got them...iraq has 18 provinces and when "some people" seen the smart card articles they said "RV was here".....well wrong! just because a "province" finally got the smart card didn't mean rv was here. NOW this article states that the POS system that the smart cards "runs" on will "see the activation of the project (POS)"

So for folks believing the smart cards can't go active without a RV...now you can start screaming rv LOLOL

I'll wait and see........

Here is a refresher on what the POS/Smart card system is about:

From the Net1 website:

11. What is the status of the UEPS deployment in Iraq?

The first UEPS transaction was performed in August 2008, in Baghdad, Iraq, during the official launch of the UEPS smart card technology with the two state banks that are part of the consortium to which we are providing a customized UEPS banking and payment system. Our first project in Iraq was a pilot involving 100,000 beneficiaries. The pilot called for implementation of our UEPS technology across selected bank branches and will enable the distribution and payment of government grants to war victims and martyrdom beneficiaries, as well as salary and wage distribution and payment to employees of the two banks.

In December 2008 we received an order for an additional 800,000 smart cards to be issued to war victim beneficiaries and pension payment recipients. This additional order follows the order of 200,000 smart cards received during October 2008. The total cards ordered from Net1 to date amount to 1.1 million. We have substantially delivered the majority of these cards and cardholder registration is underway.

We expect to commence generating license fees under this contract from the first quarter of fiscal 2010.

http://ir.net1.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=73876&p=irol-faq#35917

News clip from Dec. 2008:

Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc.


NASDAQ: UEPS
JSE: NT1
Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc.
Dec 01, 2008 16:01 ET
Net1 Increases Footprint in Iraq


JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA--(Marketwire - Dec. 1, 2008) - Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:UEPS)(JSE:NT1) ("Net1" or the "Company") today announced that it has received an order for an additional 800,000 smart cards to be issued to war victim beneficiaries and pension payment recipients. This additional order follows the recent order of 200,000 smart cards received during October 2008. The total cards ordered from Net1 to date amount to 1.1 million. Delivery of the 1 million cards will be 200,000 per month between December 2008 and May 2009. Completion of cardholder registration is anticipated for June 2009.


In August 2008, Net1's UEPS system was implemented in Iraq and is used for the distribution and payment of government grants to war victims and martyrdom beneficiaries, as well as salary and wage distribution and payment to employees of the two state banks. The pilot system was successful and for the first time in history the two state banks are opening their doors to the public seven days a week to cater for the flood of beneficiaries wanting to register for their smart cards.


Brenda Stewart, Net1 Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing, said, "We are really excited and proud of the commitment displayed by both the Iraqi and Net1 teams. This additional order is the result of the successful pilot system deployed during the month of September 2008."


"Iraq is virgin territory for the UEPS and we look forward to Phase 2 implementation which involves the rollout of the POS terminals into merchant stores, the commencement of electronic bill payments, money transfers, loan deductions, cash advances and traditional banking functionality. The UEPS enables countries to tap into the un-banked markets, encourage savings, allowing the banks to re-invest the monies deposited and in-turn grant affordable loans to the small and medium term businesses assisting towards the growth of the economy" Stewart concluded.


About Net1 (www.net1ueps.com)


Net1 provides its universal electronic payment system ("UEPS"), as an alternative payment system for the unbanked and under-banked populations of developing economies. The company believes that it is the first company worldwide to implement a system that can enable the estimated four billion people who generally have limited or no access to a bank account to enter affordably into electronic transactions with each other, government agencies, employers, merchants and other financial service providers. To accomplish this, Net1 has developed and deployed the UEPS. This system uses secure smart cards that operate in real-time but offline, unlike traditional payment systems offered by major banking institutions that require immediate access through a communications network to a centralized computer. This offline capability means that users of Net1's system can enter into transactions at any time with other cardholders in even the most remote areas so long as a portable offline smart card reader is available. In addition to payments and purchases, Net1's system can be used for banking, health care management, international money transfers, voting and identification.


Net1 also focuses on the development and provision of secure transaction technology, solutions and services. Its core competencies around secure online transaction processing, cryptography and integrated circuit card (chip/smart card) technologies are principally applied to electronic commerce transactions in the telecommunications, banking, retail, petroleum and utilities market sectors. These technologies form the cornerstones of the "trusted transactions" environment of Prism, a South African based subsidiary of the company, and provide the Company with the building blocks for developing secure end-to-end payment solutions.


Net1 recently acquired 80.1% of BGS Smartcard System AG ("BGS"), an Austrian company, whose core business consists of developing and integrating smart card-based offline and online financial transaction systems. Since 1993, BGS has implemented tailor-made smart card-based payment solutions, focusing on emerging economies and in cooperation with banks, enterprises and government authorities. BGS is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and has subsidiaries in India and Russia, and a branch office in the Ukraine. Distributors are located in Asia, Central and South America, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Middle East.


Forward-Looking Statements


This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. A discussion of various factors that could cause the Company's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements are included in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including the risk factors contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2008. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise any of these statements to reflect future circumstances or the occurrence of unanticipated events.




NET 1 U.E.P.S. TECHNOLOGIES INC.
4th Floor, North Wing,
President Place, Cnr. Jan Smuts Avenue and Bolton Road
Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa
TEL: 011-27-11-343-2000 FAX: 011-27-11-880-7080

This is the system that Ghana got and iraq is getting the same system....but this gives a detail of how the system works etc.:


E-Zwich cards ready in Ghana


Thursday 12 June 2008 at 09:10 :: #152


Some Ghanaian banks, HFC Bank, Ecobank Ghana Limited and Barclays Bank, have already begun issuing biometric e-Zwich smartcards to customers, indicating their readiness to kick-start the program (cf. Smart Insights #08-19 and 21). The banks also started distributing point of sales (POS) devices to merchants.


Ghana Commercial Bank, Stanbic Bank, Agricultural Development Bank the National Investment Bank, SG-SSB, Bank of Baroda and BSIC Ghana Limited are also in the process to start issuing the biometric smartcard and the POS devices that is expected to attract the ‘under-banked’ and ‘un-banked’ population to save their monies with banks or financial institutions.


So far, about 100 large and small-scale companies have already received POS terminals. This means POS devices have been deployed in market places, banks, supermarkets and government payment centers. The objective of the project is to bring the unbanked and underbanked into the banking system, to facilitate access to banks, and transfer of money, and also remove the cumbersome and insecure processes of using cash.


The E-Zwich system will also allow smartcard holders to spend and settle various transactions online and offline since it is a new secure way of paying for goods and services based on biometric fingerprint identification. Users will be able to load funds on their E-Zwich card by paying in cash at any licensed financial institution e.g. bank, rural bank and savings and loans company, money transfer institution or their authorized agents (e.g. Ghana Post). And the government encourages employers to pay wages and salaries to employees' card’s unique serial number. All e-Zwich transactions will be authenticated through cardholder's fingerprints on e-Zwich ATMs or POS terminals. During registration and enrolment, all 10 fingerprints are taken. This way, users will be able to use another finger if one is not recognized. However, one finger can be selected as a “panic button”, should criminals target the person. When the “panic button” is used, it automatically drains all the cash in the account temporarily, leaving only a pre-set amount of cash with which to appease the criminals.


As transactions are protected by biometrics, the balance of a lost card is not lost. In case of card loss, E-Zwich promises to issue a new card with the on-card balance restored within 48 hours.


As of now, out of a population of over 22 million in Ghana, only 800,000 people have bank accounts. Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS) has an aggressive action plan for E-Zwich adoption: salaried workers are expected to receive their salaries through the e-Zwich payment system before December this year. In addition, pensioners, churches, Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD), Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), rural banks, savings and loans companies and banks would become part of the e-Zwich system. Ghana fixed-line infrastructure is generally unreliable. In addition, it only has about five million cellular phones in the entire country.


The next step is for banks to adapt their ATMs to the Universal Electronic Payment System (UEPS) mode by June this year, to adjust it to the new system. Then, by September this year, mobile banking will become effective after the UEPS had become the operational system in the various ATMs.


E-Zwich is based on Net1 UEPS. Net1 deal encompasses all hardware and software, both back- and front-office solutions – including a national disaster recovery site – and will see more than three million cards and 10 000 point-of-sale devices being rolled out by the end of the year. The contract includes a five-year maintenance agreement and the project has already been piloted at five of Ghana's commercial banks. The total amount of Net1 contract is ZAR 243 million (EUR 19.7 million) (cf. SI #08-21)


Net1 has been awarded a contract to do a similar rollout to the one in Ghana in Iraq, where it aims to supply four million smart cards in its first year there (cf. SI #08-10). In addition, the company wants to introduce phone banking in Ghana as the smart cards that are currently used are already using SIM chips. This would mean individuals' cellphones would become point-of-sale devices and their bank account would be based on their phone.


Net1 is a South African provider of smart card technologies and systems that create a secure and affordable transacting channel between formal businesses and the “un-banked” and “under-banked” populations of developing countries who have no or limited access to traditional banking facilities. Net1's UEPS (Universal Electronic Payment System) that makes use of its patented FTS (Funds Transfer System) methodology enables customers to effect transactions “off-line” in underdeveloped areas where traditional financial institutions and their services have limited penetration or are otherwise unavailable due to the lack of, or limited branch, Automated Teller Machines (or “ATM”), POS, support and communications infrastructures. Net1 revenue was US$ 224 million (EUR 144 million) for fiscal year ending on June 30, 2007, a 14% increase over the previous year, and its net income for the same period reached US$ 63.7 million (EUR 41.0 million), an 8% increase over the previous year.

Good info, thanks CK