In the first part of this blog series, we looked at the importance of Modern Card Programs. People expect real-time, simple yet secure services to order, manage and use payments cards at-stores and online. They expect to be in control via their smartphones; using a modern banking application as fintechs and neo banks demonstrated as the new normal for mobile banking apps. The challenge is now for traditional banks to be as modern and agile as neo banks user experience-wise. In this part we’ll continue to look at the challenges of delivering a Modern Card Program by modernizing the card issuing platform, and how these challenges can be overcome by Thales D1 with tangible benefits for developers.
Managing payments in real time
When using a mobile banking app, real-time, mobile centricity, simplicity and maximum security are the expected standard. When it comes to card management and digital payments, customers now expect to be able to; track orders, set up alerts and spending limits, temporarily suspend and re-activate cards, pay via instalments and many more services. The application becomes a service marketplace operating in real-time. It empowers cardholders to manage everything from their smartphone – giving them even more control over their finances. All of these services are mobile and web centric, creating new challenges for developers who need not only to develop a brand new mobile front-end, but also orchestrate the entire card issuing stack with legacy systems and modern components.
For developers, the complexity comes from both the repetition of tasks (for example: tokenization using APIs for each payment scheme), but also the need to orchestrate multiple front-end and back-end systems from the core banking infrastructure managing accounts, transactions, authorizations, risk management, and many more structural elements participating to the user’s payment experiences . Let’s not forget the regulatory constraints that come with it; PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) and GDPR (Global Data Privacy Regulation) just to name a couple.
Card issuing platform
Adding new digital payment services into an existing card issuing stack can rapidly turn into a very complex engineering challenge; for both time and cost. Challenger banks, such as Monzo or Revolut, have set the standard for modern User Experience. They have built their card issuing stacks from ground zero, the task for them was simpler than for existing banks with legacy systems to integrated into a modern infrastructure.
Thales D1
Thales D1 brings UX-level APIs with use cases insights and global orchestration templates that save time and costs for developers compared with the use of thousands of system level APIs provided by a handful of technology partners with no orchestration support.
Beyond APIs and unified SDKs, Thales D1 manages the connectivity with Payment Networks to facilitate the deployment of Digital Cards, but also the deployment of innovative payments services such as 3DS, Alerts & Controls, Click-to-Pay and Pay-by-Instalments.
The question is no longer about the need to modernize card programs. All issuers know that the demand for the modern mobile UX is unstoppable. The question is now only how to deliver it efficiently. It’s a complex IT project because of the mix of legacy systems and modern components. Thales D1 makes it as easy as possible and that simplicity can be summarized in 4 key words: Simple API , better orchestration of the infrastructure, managed connectivity with payment networks and compliance-by-design.
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