Paragon Application Systems insights on addressing ePayment testing challenges. http://www.paragonedge.com Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:00:00 GMT en-us Even if your organization has been issuing magnetic stripe cards for years, you realize the switch to issuing chip cards (sometimes referred to as EMV cards, ICCs [integrated circuit cards], or smart cards) is much more complicated than simply adding a microchip to your card design specs and choosing a chip card manufacturer to produce the plastics. You realize the move to chip cards will ultimately affect every aspect of your institution, from your branch operations to your payments batch processing. Even so, as a card issuer, focusing first on chip card issuance can be a logical starting point in planning your EMV implementation. This article addresses seven key decisions your organization must make before issuing its first chip card. http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/industry_insights/chip-card-implementation-for-issuers.shtml Turkish Economy Bank (TEB), a leading bank in Turkey, recently leased FASTress and professional services from Paragon Application Systems to stress test their new payment system. TEB required confirmation that their new transaction processing platform could reliably handle peak transaction volumes and their growing customer base. http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/2010news/TEB-confirms-system-capacity-with-Paragon-FASTress.shtml When your institution is planning an EMV implementation (that is the implementation of the Europay, MasterCard, Visa standard for integrated chip cards), it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the project scope. As an EMV transaction-acquiring institution, your organization can expect changes in nearly every division resulting from this fundamental shift in payments processing. When tackling such an imposing project, many experts recommend taking one small step at the time. For acquirers, an obvious first step is evaluating their existing devices and planning for chip-compatible ones. Answering the following device-related questions will help you determine the budget and timeline for your institution’s EMV implementation. These questions must be answered based on your institution’s business plan, network size, card associations, and so forth; and each institution’s answers will likely vary. Despite their differences, however, all acquiring institutions should incorporate these considerations into their EMV implementation planning. http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/industry_insights/emv-planning-for-acquirers.shtml To verify their system capacity when moving from a single-node to multi-node system, Bank of Hawaii needed to conduct performance and regression testing. Based on 10 years of positive experience with solutions from Paragon Application Systems, Bank of Hawaii chose Paragon FASTress for stress testing and Paragon FASTest for regression testing. http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/2010news/Paragon-Bank-of-Hawaii-Stress-Test.shtml What is the common denominator for virtually every change faced by financial institutions today? "Make this change and you’re going to need to test. And test again." Which changes will result in the foremost challenges to your FI? What will you need to test, and how? How do you begin to prepare your testers—and your management—for these challenges? http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/industry_insights/top-12-financial-industry-challenges.shtml Dana Blegen, Product Support Manager for Paragon Application Systems has earned the Certified Smart Card Industry Professional Certification (CSCIP) from the Smart Card Alliance, a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread application of smart card technology. Blegen joins a select group of industry professionals who have demonstrated expertise in Smart Card technology. http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/2009news/Paragons-Blegen-earns-CSCIP-Certification.shtml ¿Implementando EMV en cajeros Diebold?. Mientras hacía una nueva carga para el cajero de pruebas Diebold Agilis 91x de Paragon, Dana Blegen, Gerente de soporte para los productos de Paragon, encontró unos cuantos "reductores de velocidad". He aquí sus recomendaciones para una más fácil y rápida implementación de EMV en cajeros Diebold. http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/industry_insights/diebold-emv-setup-espanol.shtml Many major corporations are realizing that they can gain efficiencies by accessing software applications in the "cloud" – the popular symbol for the Internet. As a leader in ePayment testing software, Paragon Application Systems developed Web FASTest to offer their customers centralized, unattended, Web-based testing. Motivated by a combination of user interest, advances in technology, and an economy that demands unparalleled efficiency, Paragon has extended Web FASTest to a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, a cloud computing technology. http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/2009news/Paragon_Develops_ePayment_Testing_in_the_Cloud.shtml Paragon Application Systems, a leading global ePayment simulation, configuration and testing software provider, announces the appointment of Mark Simerly as Director of Managed Services. Simerly has over 20 years of experience in financial services at ACI Worldwide in development, technical sales support and global sales. Most recently, Simerly was the Solutions Architect for ACI On Demand. Simerly is in charge of developing and deploying Paragon's SaaS testing solution. http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/2009news/Paragon_Director_Managed_Services.shtml Paragon Application Systems, a leading global provider of ePayment simulation, configuration and testing software, today announced that ChamsSwitch, an electronic payment switch in Nigeria recently licensed Paragon's ATMulator Plus. ChamsSwitch is using ATMulator Plus to create ATM screens and states and test transaction sets that they implement for their customers. http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/2009news/ChamsSwitch_Licenses_ATMulator_Plus.shtml Setting up Diebold EMV? While building a new operation download for Paragon's Diebold Agilis 91x ATM test machine, Dana Blegen, Paragon's Product Support Manager, encountered a few "speed bumps." Here are his tips for faster, easier Diebold EMV setup. http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/industry_insights/diebold_emv_setup.shtml Banelco, a leading ATM network in Argentina, recently licensed software from Paragon Application Systems to simulate and test their ATMs and interfaces with their member organizations. Banelco licensed Paragon’s ATMulator for Diebold and NCR simulation, configuration and testing and FASTest for quality assurance and regression testing. http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/2009news/banelco_optimizes_testing_w_paragon.shtml While EMV (chip) cards offer increased security and significant reduction of fraud, chip-and-PIN technology cannot eliminate EMV card fraud entirely. As an EMV card issuer, you must test your fraud detection system to ensure that when suspicious chip card transactions occur, they are promptly identified. http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/industry_insights/emv_card_fraud_testing.shtml What were the top 10 takeaways? http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/industry_insights/tisqa_conference_agile_testing.shtml Harold Pruitt, Solutions Engineer from Paragon Application Systems, will present "Staying Ahead of EMV Card Fraud." This discussion examines possible EMV card fraud scenarios and ways to test them. Paragon will also exhibit at the conference. "Card fraud is an ongoing challenge for financial institutions and merchants," says Pruitt. "Migrating from magnetic stripe cards to EMV smart cards has reduced fraud, but not completely eliminated it. Since it is difficult to test EMV fraud using physical devices, financial institutions need ways to simulate and test fraud scenarios. The challenge for issuers is making sure that their fraud detection system is accurately flagging EMV card fraud scenarios like invalid chip data, bad offline PIN’s, damaged chip cards with rewritten magnetic stripes and multiple transactions from diverse geographies." http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/2009news/paragon_emv_card_fraud_cards_middle_east.shtml Paragon’s Wynn Lam is appointed managing director for growing Asia-Pacific operation. http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/2009news/paragon_establishes_ap_office.shtml What were the top 10 takeaways? http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/industry_insights/tisqa_conference_agile_testing.shtml Paragon experiences continued growth fueled by increased demand for their products and professional services, new markets and international expansion. http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/2009news/paragon_2008_year_end_financial_results.shtml You know testing is more than clicking. What comprises the bulk of test activity? http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/industry_insights/epayments_testing_timeline.shtml There are many components of EMV testing. What lies beyond testing cards and terminals? http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/industry_insights/emv_host_testing_considerations.shtml John Chozas joins Paragon as Regional Sales Director; Karen Lemke joins as Global Account Manager http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/2009news/paragon_expands_sales_force_chozas_lemke.shtml End-to-end testing includes verifying system performance. How can you include this 'last mile' of testing? http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/industry_insights/stress_testing_payment_systems.shtml Testing terms vary from one industry to another. What terms are used in electronic payments testing? http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/industry_insights/electronic_payments_testing_primer.shtml Network mandates are inevitable. How do you make testing easier? http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/industry_insights/financial_network_mandate_testing.shtml No organization can test everything. How do you decide what to test? http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/industry_insights/prioritizing_EFT_testing.shtml Proving that code "works" isn't enough. How do you change your testing perspective? http://www.paragonedge.com/Paragonweb/news/industry_insights/black_box_financial_transaction_testing.shtml