MENTOR, Ohio, Feb. 25, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Today, CardinalCommerce Corporation announced a new partnership with S2 Systems. S2 Systems will offer Cardinal Commerce's suite of payment authentication products to its OpeN/2 customers. OpeN/2 is a scalable authorization and transaction switching engine that leverages leading edge operating systems, relational database and hardware technologies to deliver a greater return on investment.
CardinalCommerce is a leading provider of a technology-neutral authentication platform for securing online transactions. The Cardinal Payment Authentication Platform(tm) is designed for issuing banks, while Cardinal Centinel(tm) is designed for acquiring banks and their merchants. The software reduces the level of online fraudulent transactions and guarantees payment to online merchants who use it, while protecting the accounts of cardholders.
Stephen Clark, president and CEO of S2 Systems, commented, "CardinalCommerce's technology provides a powerful capability that our customers have sought, as the awareness of fraud and payment authentication increases dramatically. We anticipate a strong interest in Cardinal's products, and we look forward to offering our customers an industry leading solution for their payment authentication needs."
A survey by Gartner Research, in September, 2002, found that approximately 1.14 percent of all online transactions are fraudulent, more than 15 times the rate of fraud in the physical world, 0.06 percent. In addition, Gartner reports global losses of online card fraud to be USD 1.94 billion in 2002, out of USD 91 billion in online sales, which is double the rate for 2001.
Recent news headlines have demonstrated the seeming ease with which hackers obtain credit card numbers and account information. Credit card issuers may never be immune to these types of hacks, but initiatives such as Verified by Visa and MasterCard(r) SecureCode(tm) will render stolen card numbers useless, and protect cardholders' accounts from fraud. CardinalCommerce's software enables both of these initiatives in one simple, cost-effective, and easy to use solution.
"S2 Systems is a proven leader in payment technology solutions for the banking and financial services industry around the world. Our partnership with S2 Systems will combine their expertise and prestige with CardinalCommerce's aggressive efforts to become the worldwide leader in payment authentication," stated James Butler, executive vice president of CardinalCommerce. "This is another significant step for CardinalCommerce and our ability to reach customers around the world."
CardinalCommerce's software enables the utilization of multiple factors to authenticate individuals coupled with an audit trail that issuers may use for validation. OpeN/2's expanded technological capabilities will recognize and use today's authentication systems, including a user's name and password, smart cards, digital certificates and biometrics. S2 Systems' integrated solution allows even a cell phone to be used as an authentication device, allowing customers to define the technological landscape.
Customers who select S2 Systems' OpeN/2 and its newly integrated plug-in for online authentication can forestall fraud liability by easily meeting the requirements of industry initiatives such as the MasterCard(r) SecureCode(tm) and Verified by Visa. Acting now will ensure institutions and organizations greater success, reduced fraud risk and higher return on investment in a technology-neutral environment.
S2 System's expertise in banking software and solutions, and the desire for a payment authentication solution for their customers, are a strong signal by the banking, merchant acquiring and financial technology communities that payment authentication is in demand and provides a clear value to customers.
About S2 Systems
S2 Systems, Inc. is a leading global provider of mission-critical enterprise payment and transaction management solutions for the banking, financial services, retail, telecommunications, utilities and travel & hospitality industries. Today, S2 Systems technology is the best of its class in price and performance, delivering improved reliability and availability to businesses worldwide, with the industry's best ROI. And for 20 years, some of the world's largest organizations have relied on S2 products to drive their high-volume transaction processing systems. S2 Systems is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and has offices in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Johannesburg, Dubai, Riyadh, Hong Kong, Melbourne, and Sydney. For more information about S2 Systems, visit its web site at www.s2systems.com.
About CardinalCommerce Corporation
CardinalCommerce Corporation is a leading provider of a technology-neutral authentication platform for securing electronic and wireless commerce, thus ensuring that individuals, businesses and government agencies can process electronic transactions and access confidential information safely, securely and privately. Cardinal's proprietary technology provides consumers, merchants, credit/debit card issuers, and processors the ability to conduct fully authenticated Internet-based e-commerce, while protecting the transactions from fraud. CardinalCommerce is based in Cleveland, Ohio, and has partners throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India. For more information, visit www.cardinalcommerce.com.