Press Releases

October 04, 2007

LEVEL FOUR ENSURES SMOOTH EMV MIGRATION AT CANADIAN ATMS

Three BRIDGE:test deals in 2007 highlight Level Four’s dominant position in Canada

CHARLOTTE NC, 4th October 2007 – Level Four, a leading supplier of open standards-based ATM software, today announced the signing of three leading Canadian banks to BRIDGE:test. The demand for Level Four’s automated testing solution for Windows-based ATM applications has been largely prompted by the EMV (Europay, Mastercard and VISA) chip card standard mandated in Canada for December 2012. Another driver for upgrades to Canadian ATM networks has been the worldwide migration to the Windows operating system and the XFS open standard.

EMV is a worldwide mandate to counter card fraud – the chip cards are regarded as being significantly more secure than the magnetic stripe currently used for authenticating debit and credit transactions. In 2006, the Interac Association, Canada’s EFT network, reimbursed Canadian cardholders for $94.6 million (U.S. $89.6 million), up from $70 million (U.S. $66.3 million) in 2005. Canada is looking to countries such as the United Kingdom where EMV has been credited with driving down card and ATM-related fraud. According to the UK’s APACS, total card fraud losses in the U.K. fell 3 percent in two years, from £503 million to £423 million (U.S. $853 million).

To deal with EMV, Canadian banks need to upgrade the infrastructure for their ATM networks, and simultaneously rethink their testing strategy and supporting test tools which play an integral part in quality assurance. As a result of EMV migration, the volume of testing throughout an ATM network significantly increases to ensure that high levels of customer service at the terminals are not compromised during the move to EMV chip cards. Level Four’s extensive experience of EMV compliance projects for ATM networks at leading banks throughout Europe and the Middle East was a deciding factor for three leading Canadian banks to sign up to BRIDGE:test in 2007.

Level Four’s unique solution automates the testing process by providing end-to-end transaction testing directly from the chip card, through the live ATM software application and up to the host system. Automation significantly shortens the time taken and eases the burden of the Canadian banks’ efforts in order to comply with the mandate. Furthermore, the advanced reporting capabilities of BRIDGE:test provides greater visibility of, and insight into, banks’ ATM network diagnostics for them to better understand and manage the complexities that EMV introduces.

Steven Lund, President of Level Four Americas, said: “BRIDGE:test is much more than just a test tool; it will empower our Canadian banking customers to take control of their ATM networks during a period of significant change. With comprehensive, end-to-end testing of their ATM network enabling a seamless transition to new technology within the set timeframe, the banks can focus on rectifying any problems in the network that may negatively impact the customer experience. From our past experience with banks EMV compliance projects throughout Europe and the Middle East, we’re in a great position to help the Canadian banks that have signed with us this year. We anticipate additional banks will follow suit as EMV compliance gains momentum in Canada.”

Compounding EMV compliance in Canada is banks’ global migration to the Windows operating system, which moves ATMs into an open standards environment where ATM deployers are no longer ‘locked in’ to vendors tying proprietary software into their hardware. As with any new environment or service, there are elements of risk and uncertainty that need to be confronted before they become major issues. Advanced ATM monitoring plays a significant role to ensure ATM networks are working at their optimum uptime and that ATM deployers are maximizing the revenue generating capabilities of their network. A key component of Level Four’s BRIDGE suite of open standards-based solutions, BRIDGE:control provides ATM deployers with advanced monitoring at the ATM terminals, which provides a more accurate view of problems in the network that can then be corrected more quickly, maximizing uptime at the ATM.

Level Four will exhibit its BRIDGE suite of solutions, including BRIDGE:test and BRIDGE:control, at the BAI Retail Delivery Conference (http://www.bai.org/retaildelivery), November 13 – 15, 2007 in Las Vegas. If you’d like to discuss the state of EMV migration in Canada or to have a demonstration of how BRIDGE:test is helping Canadian banks with their compliance efforts, please contact Nicola Truman on +44(0)20 7608 2500 or levelfour@hotwirepr.com.

About Level Four
Level Four’s integrated BRIDGE suite of open ATM software products have been developed to address the needs of ATM deployers seeking to maximise their investment in the ATM channel. BRIDGE is targeted at banks and ATM deployers who are running, or are seeking to run, a modern ATM network based on the industry-wide CEN/XFS open standard. As a true holistic offering, BRIDGE recognises the needs of ATM deployers in the areas of installation, testing and monitoring as well as run-time ATM software.

Since 1995, Level Four has built an impressive global customer base of banks and payments processors including, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB, National Bank of Dubai, Rabobank, LINK and Standard Bank of South Africa. Headquartered in Dunfermline, Level Four has offices in London, Dubai and Charlotte, NC.

For more information, please visit: www.levelfour.com

For information, contact:

Martin Macmillan
Level Four Software Ltd
Tel: +44 (0)1383 720 118
martin@levelfour.com

Steven Lund
Level Four Americas LLC
Tel: (704) 837-8050
slund@levelfour.com

Nicola Truman
Hotwire
Tel: +44 (0)207 608 2500
nicola.truman@hotwirepr.com

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About Level Four

Level Four’s integrated BRIDGE suite of open ATM software products have been developed to address the needs of ATM deployers seeking to maximise their investment in the ATM channel. BRIDGE is targeted at banks and ATM deployers who are running, or seeking to run, a modern ATM network based on the industry-wide CEN/XFS open standard. As a true holistic offering, BRIDGE recognises the needs of ATM deployers in the areas of installation, testing and monitoring as well as run-time ATM software.

Since 1995, Level Four has built an impressive global customer base of banks and payments processors including, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB, National Bank of Dubai, Rabobank, LINK and Standard Bank of South Africa. Headquartered in Dunfermline, Scotland, Level Four also has offices in Dubai and Charlotte NC.


For further information contact:

Martin Macmillan
Level Four Software Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 1383 720 118

E-mail: martin@levelfour.com

Hotwire PR
Nicola Truman / Alexia Ward
+44 (0) 20 7608 2500
E-mail: levelfour@hotwirepr.com





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