Nigeria’s AppZone, U.S. tech firm in smart card alliance

Nigerian software company, AppZone says it is combining strength with Prime Factors, a U.S. developer to provide smart card solutions for the Nigerian market. AppZone says the partnership will enhance its card issuance platform to ensure that potentially functional cards that are not yet linked to customer accounts are transported between personalisation companies and banks According to Nigeria’s AppZone, the card issuance module will take card issuance to “a whole new level” by enabling the entire spectrum of card production and personalisation activities to be automated and occur instantly upon customer requests in bank branches. Under the plan, Prime Factors will provide AppZone with a core component used for the creation and management of cryptographic elements required during the secure personalisation of integrated chips found on modern payment cards. Appzone further says that with this development, banks on the platform can instantly issue fully functional cards to requesting customers in branches instead of having same customers wait for days or weeks to collect their requested cards. The introduction of its instant personalisation solution eliminates all the manual processes involved during card issuance and replaces them with complete automation, according to AppZone. Traditional card issuance requires customers to visit branches twice to get a card i.e. to make card request and to collect the card a few days or weeks sit uncollected at bank branches”, the Nigerian technology company says. “AppZone’s card issuance platform automates relevant card operations thereby reducing the need for banks to develop or outsource expertise required to manage EMV data preparation and card personalisation.” According to AppZone, “key features of our instant in-branch card personalisation solution include generation of Magnetic stripe and EMV chip data, instant personalisation of physical cards, instant PIN selection and instant linking of cards to customer accounts. There is also support for card blocking requests initiated at branches.”