EMV Payments Leader ICC Solutions and Top U.S. Card Test Equipment and Test Laboratory Leader Q-Card Sign Strategic Agreement

ATLANTA and SUNBURY, Pa., June 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ICC Solutions Limited, a leading provider of EMV contact and contactless test and certification products to the global payments industry, and Q-Card, the world's top supplier of magnetic stripe test cards and testing equipment to the card payments industry signed a strategic agreement today.  The new partnership will help drive the U.S. payment industry's migration to the more secure EMV chip and Pin payment standard in the USA.   

The addition of Q-Card to ICC Solutions' U.S. sales, marketing and support infrastructure in the USA is a major opportunity for both organizations.  It is also part of an ongoing program by ICC Solutions, a recent award recipient of the U.K.'s prestigious Queen's Awards for International Trade and Innovation, to quickly expand the company's U.S. operations to support the U.S. payment industry migration to the new EMV chip card.  Earlier this month, ICC Solutions announced the opening of a new U.S. HQ in Atlanta, Georgia.  For Q-Card, the new partnership expands its leadership in payments by supporting the growth of Q-Card's emerging payments technology business group, which includes the development of new EMV based contact, contactless and Mobile NFC payment solutions.

The USA is the last of the G20 nations to adopt the new payment chip payment standard, which reduces card fraud, and provides a more secure and rewarding shopping experience for U.S. consumers. Both VISA and MasterCard have mandated EMV compliance beginning in 2013.  

Founded in 1996, British-based ICC Solutions is currently the only company in the world capable of offering fully qualified test scripts for American Express AEIPS, Discover D-PAS, INTERAC Contact & Flash; M-TIP, PayPass & NIV for MasterCard; Visa ADVT & ADVT qVSDC Device Module in addition to EMV Level 2 and EMV Entry Point Type Approval test suites. This will be key as the U.S. develops a successful EMV payment infrastructure to meet the VISA and MasterCard mandates.

"Q-Card is a world-class organization long renowned for providing top quality test products, equipment and services to the marketplace," noted David Maisey, Chief Executive Officer, ICC Solutions Limited.  "We are excited about the new agreement with Q-Card, which will further expand our footprint in the USA and help us help our customers migrate seamlessly to EMV."

"Q-Card is truly enthusiastic about the opportunity to represent ICC Solutions and its test solutions. ICC Solutions has a solid foundation in the EMV arena, which will greatly boost Q-Card's capabilities and opportunities here in the U.S. as we migrate to EMV," commented Jeff Myers, Director of Sales and Marketing at Q-Card. "This is a strategic alliance that we have been developing for some time now and we feel this agreement puts Q-Card, and ICC Solutions in a great position for future growth."

About Q-Card
Q-Card manufactures a broad range of magnetic stripe test cards, test equipment and also offers onsite consulting and laboratory test services as well.  It is the payment industry's "gold standard" for magnetic stripe testing solutions. U.S. based Q-Card card products are used more than 15 billion times a year in over 40 countries including China, Hong Kong, Russia, France, UK, South America, Spain, Africa, Australia and the U.S.

About ICC Solutions Ltd.
ICC Solutions is the preeminent supplier of EMV chip and Pin contact and contactless test and certification solutions to the global payments industry. Based in Cheshire, England, ICC Solutions maintains offices in Atlanta, Dubai, Singapore and Toronto with partner support offices in New York and California. ICC Solutions offers a broad range of industry recognized test tools, fully approved for certification, and type approvals covering the functional and application level testing of contact and contactless cards and devices (POS and ATM). It also provides industry leading customized Acquirer - Merchant Certification packages. ICC Solutions was recently awarded two prestigious Queen's Awards for International Trade and Innovation, the United Kingdom's top industry award.

Contact
Stewart Chalmers
Coolhead Group, Inc.
Phone: 818-681-3588
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE ICC Solutions Ltd.; Q-Card