The online platform will streamline mada’s new product testing and certification process for member banks, and POI & card vendors

FIME,a partner of Alhamrani Universal in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), has been selected by mada, the domestic payment scheme, to develop a state-of-the-art, bespoke cloud-based testing platform and certification process.

For member banks, and points of interaction (POI) and payment instrument vendors, the new secure portal will make the certification process quicker, more cost efficient and convenient. This will smooth the development and launch of new payments products. As the project will fully automate and streamline the testing and certification process, the costs and resources required to manage the scheme will also be dramatically reduced for mada.

The new self-service platform will operate 24/7 and enable stakeholders to:

• Log into a private, secure mada network.
• Create a certification project.
• Perform testing in-house on payment terminals and cards.
• Submit test logs to the cloud.
• Monitor validation progress in real-time.
• Completely remove the need to send hardware for certification.

“Our current certification processes are complex, as a result they can be time and resource intensive for everyone involved,” comments Ziad Al Yousef, General Director of Payment Systems Department at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA). “By automating our systems and deploying them online, we can streamline the whole process, reduce certification time and give member banks and vendors the accessible service that they need to innovate.

“All of this work ties into supporting the Saudi Vision 2030 goal of a cashless society. FIME’s expertise in supporting payment schemes made them stand out as the partner that could help us to realize this vision and deliver a truly world-class, testing and certification service.”

“This is certification for the digital age,” comments Lionel Grosclaude, CEO, FIME. “It is a hugely ambitious project that’s leading the way in our cloud-based strategy and will be the first system of its kind. Cloud-based certification puts banks in the driving seat and removes the logistical and administrative headache that schemes face when managing all of the testing themselves. We share mada’s laser-focus on efficiency and innovation. Its commitment to improving members’ user experience is commendable, and we look forward to sharing updates throughout the project.”