Day: July 22, 2021

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UL Collaborates with WIZZIT Digital to Advance Retail Payments in Sub-Saharan Africa with Launch of a SoftPOS with PIN Mobile Payment Solution

UL and WIZZIT Digital help speed deployment of contactless payments to help drive financial inclusion and empower merchants of all sizes realize their ambitions.

JOHANNESBURG, July 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — UL, the global safety science leader, has announced that WIZZIT Digital, a digital payments company, has launched a Tap2Pay software point-of-sale (SoftPOS) solution with personal identification number (PIN) entry support. This solution transforms commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) devices into point-of-sale (POS) payment terminals. Tap2Pay is the first SoftPOS solution developed in South Africa that supports PIN entry and is recognized by Visa and Mastercard. WIZZIT Digital has now gone live with an initial launch customer, one of the largest Pan-African commercial banks.

UL has announced that WIZZIT Digital has launched a Tap2Pay software point-of-sale (SoftPOS) solution with personal identification number (PIN) entry support. This solution transforms commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) devices into point-of-sale (POS) payment terminals. Tap2Pay is the first SoftPOS solution developed in South Africa that supports PIN entry and is recognized by Visa and Mastercard.

To navigate the complexities of bringing a SoftPOS solution to market, UL supported the Tap2Pay solution from development to marketplace entry. In the initial stages, UL provided advisory services to help WIZZIT Digital navigate the payments regulatory landscape and meet the payment schemes’ requirements. When Tap2Pay was ready for functional testing, UL tested it with a range of scheme-accredited tools to provide feedback on potential issues. Following debugging and troubleshooting, UL provided functional testing services and helped WIZZIT Digital gain Visa pilot type approval. After functional approval, UL’s security laboratories evaluated the solution for Mastercard’s and Visa’s security pilot programs. These tests and evaluations against scheme requirements allowed WIZZIT to bring the solution to market.

UL evaluation confirmed that the Tap2Pay solution met key security requirements before entering the marketplace. This included helping to affirm the security of payment data obtained through a near-field communications (NFC) interface and a contactless kernel of the COTS device. The solution’s security mechanisms, controls and mitigations protect the consumer’s account data and other assets.

Tap2Pay enters the market at a time when demand for contactless payment solutions is increasing. According to Deloitte, the COVID-19 pandemic has made the need for digitizing payments more critical than ever. However, many emerging markets are facing card acceptance challenges. Deloitte also noted that in South Africa approximately 90% of the 100,000 nationwide shops in the informal sector only accept cash. To meet customer demand and increase card acceptance by the smaller business market, including merchants in rural areas, needs an affordable solution.

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Jako Fritz, principal security adviser at UL, said, “SoftPOS is an entirely new approach to digital payments lowering the barrier of entry for merchants to accept contactless card transactions. Cloud computing, as well as the Europay, MasterCard and Visa protocol, allows the shift from traditional physically secure POS to software-based COTS transaction processing. These solutions will help micro and small business owners and merchants around the world meet the demands of an increasingly cashless society more securely with minimal investment.”

Explaining how Tap2Pay addresses an unmet market need, Brian Richardson, CEO and co-founder of WIZZIT Digital, said, “For almost two decades, we have been working with banks and financial institutions in emerging markets, including many countries in Africa. Our experience has taught us two things. Firstly, consumers and banks want the protection of a PIN when conducting contactless transactions. With cyberfraud on the rise, a PIN offers a universally accepted layer of security that people trust. Secondly, traditional cashless payment solutions are too expensive for micro and small merchants.

“For smaller merchants, the initial investment in terminals and the ongoing maintenance costs are simply too high. Tap2Pay SoftPos with PIN removes this barrier, enabling merchants of any size to accept cashless payments. This will ultimately help them attract more customers, including those who don’t want to pay cash for goods and services, for a fraction of the cost,” said Richardson.

About UL
UL is the global safety science leader. We deliver testing, inspection and certification (TIC), training and advisory services, risk management solutions and essential business insights to help our customers, based in more than 100 countries, achieve their safety, security and sustainability goals. Our deep knowledge of products and intelligence across supply chains make us the partner of choice for customers with complex challenges. Discover more at UL.com.

For information about Standards development and other nonprofit activities, visit UL.org.

Press contacts:
Steven Brewster
UL
ULNews@UL.com
+1.847.664.8425

Christina Bostock
IHC
christina@ih-c.com
971.55.887.3054

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DEWA, Stanford University to develop advanced system for PV production

DUBAI, The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s (DEWA), using its Space-D programme, has collaborated with Stanford University to develop an advanced system to forecast Photovoltaic (PV) production in the short term at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world using the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model with a planned capacity of 5,000MW by 2030.

The new system reduces errors in the forecast to less than 10 percent. This supports DEWA’s efforts to achieve the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to provide 75 percent of Dubai’s total power capacity from clean energy sources by 2050, said a DEWA press release on Thursday.

The system uses modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, deep learning, high-density cameras on the main satellite and a network of metrological stations to predict irradiance, dust and cloud movement, which can affect PV performance.

“We are collaborating with Stanford University at DEWA’s R&D Centre through our membership in the Energy 3.0 programme from the university. The R&D centre focuses on enhancing partnerships, especially among the academic community and harnesses all capabilities to anticipate the future, develop long-term proactive plans to keep pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution and innovate disruptive technologies to provide world-class services that enhance the quality of life in Dubai,” Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, said.

Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Excellence at DEWA, said that the collaboration also exchanges knowledge and experience to resolve critical energy issues worldwide, accelerate innovation, research and studies in advanced renewable and alternative energy.

“The R&D Centre supports DEWA’s efforts to overcome challenges in the energy sector when generating electricity from solar and clean energy. This supports the Centre’s goals to become a global platform for promising solutions that enrich the scientific community in the UAE and the world,” said Dr. Saif Saeed Almheiri, Vice President of Research & Development at DEWA.

“I am pleased and honoured to be able to collaborate with DEWA on this world-leading solar project. Improving the ability to forecast solar PV output will help not only Dubai but the entire world, as we shift increasingly to a clean solar-based economy,” said Prof. Adam Brandt, Associate Professor of Energy Resources Engineering at Stanford University.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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Emirates takes off to Miami

DUBAI, Emirates has taken off to Miami, marking the airline’s first passenger flight to the coastal metropolis, its second point in Florida, and the airline’s first new destination launched since the pandemic. Emirates flight EK213 departed at 03.10 local time Thursday morning, according to an Emirates statement.

The new four times a week service to Miami takes Emirates’ US network to 12 destinations on over 10 flights a day. The airline is operating over 60 percent of its pre-pandemic capacity to the United States and continues to expand its presence in line with increasing passenger traffic. The new service to Miami will also serve as a gateway to Central and South America as well as the Caribbean Islands. In the other direction, travellers will be able to connect to the Emirates network of more than 120 destinations.

In addition to Miami, Emirates has re-started flights to Nice, Mexico City, Phuket, Lyon, Mauritius, and Malta in July.

Commanding the Miami flight this morning was Captain Abdulla Alhammadi, Captain John Brosnan, First Officer Stuart Clay Jr, and First Officer Carlos Montero Corral.

The aircraft utilised for this morning’s inaugural flight was Emirates’ Boeing 777 Gamechanger, featuring the airline’s highly popular First Class private suites. Emirates will then operate its three-class Boeing 777-300ER on the route, featuring eight private suites in First Class, 42 lie flat seats in Business Class and 304 spacious seats in Economy Class for the four times a week service.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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Minor incident between flydubai and Gulf Air aircraft at Dubai airport, no injuries

DUBAI, Two passenger jets from low-cost carrier FlyDubai and Bahrain-based Gulf Air collided with each other on the taxiway at Dubai International Airport (DXB) early Thursday morning.

The collision damaged a wingtip on one of the aircraft and the tail of the other.

No injuries in the incident were reported.

A team from the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) headed to the incident scene to conduct the necessary investigation.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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Dubai Police handle around 1.2 million calls in Q2 ’21

DUBAI, The Dubai Police’s emergency hotline 999 have received around 1.2 million calls during the second quarter of 2021, while the force’s non-emergency hotline 901 received 379,122 calls during the same period.

These statistics were revealed during the Operations Department performance appraisal meeting, headed by the Major General Mohamed Saif Al Zafin, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Operations Affairs, in the presence of Major General Kamel Butti Al Suwaidi, Director of Operations, and several Dubai Police senior officers, according to a press release issued on Thursday.

The Emergency Hotline – 999 Officials of Dubai Police’ Command and Control Centre said, during the second quarter of 2021, Dubai Police’s emergency hotline 999 received 1,177,347 calls, of which 99.6 percent were answered within 10 seconds, compared to 1,094,373 calls received during the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the average time for police patrols to reach extreme emergency scenes was only 2.33 minutes, where the targeted response time was six minutes, and 10.17 minutes for emergency cases when the target was 15 minutes. Similarly, the average time for police patrols to reach non-emergency scenes was 10.45 minutes during the same period, where the targeted response time was 30 minutes.

The Non-Emergency Call Centre – 901 Furthermore, Dubai Police’s Commander-in-chief also reviewed the statistics of 901call centre, where the total number of received calls reached 168,949 calls during the second quarter – of those 94.42 percent were answered within 20 seconds.

At the end of the meeting, Al Marri called upon staff members to fulfil their job requirements in a timely and accurate manner, to improve business quality and performance to upgrade work standards to the highest levels. He also urged the public to understand the difference between 901 and the emergency hotline 999 and be more mindful of the calls they make to the hotline.

Source: Emirates News Agency