Auckland, New Zealand. 23 January 2013 -(ASIA TODAY)- Electronic payment software solutions and services company GFG Group has formed a strategic partnership with Australia-headquartered specialist IT solutions and services delivery provider, Attra. The partnership boosts service delivery to existing and new clients and sharpens GFG Group’s competitiveness in key emerging markets.
Australia-headquartered Attra specialises in providing independent software testing, application management, portfolio migration, integration and consulting services to clients in the banking, finance and payments industry. Its clients include multinational banks, financial institutions and card processors in 19 countries across five continents.
GFG Group’s partnership with Attra spans solution implementation and support for both new and existing clients. It delivers economies of scale, opens up new markets for both companies and enables GFG Group to deliver its solutions more cost-effectively, says Wayne Robinson, GFG Group’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales.
“Attra will provide complementary services to the GFG Group suite of payment solutions and products – particularly our Cadencie card payment solution, but also our Simfonie mobile payment solution, and payment and testing tools – FINsim, Gateway, PINselect and Secure Mailer,” he says.
“Attra really understands the payments industry and has significant experience in the banking and finance industry. Attra’s payments knowledge, application management, testing and implementation services and skills combine very well with GFG Group’s deep expertise in the payments industry. This is enabling an enhanced range of services and support for GFG Group clients,” says Robinson.
Attra staff members are already working onsite with GFG Group clients such as Members Equity Bank (ME Bank) in Australia, which uses GFG Group’s Cadencie card management solution. Attra has provided an onsite User testing/Acceptance resource, fully trained and certified by GFG Group in Cadencie.
“The delivery of ME Bank’s card platform has been assisted for many years through a strong working relationship with GFG Group and more recently Attra, who has provided additional specialised credit card knowledge and services,” says ME Bank’s Chief Information Officer, Kath Hawkins.
“Attra’s partnership with GFG has benefitted all parties and has provided a greater depth of experience to GFG’s card platform for ME Bank,” Hawkins says.
“ME Bank has been pleased to work with GFG as a vendor and Attra as a trusted partner in its card solution delivery.”
GFG Group is working with Attra’s global head in India to investigate opportunities in emerging markets, where demand for high-quality but more affordable payment solutions is growing. Key target regions will be emerging markets in Southeast Asia (including Myanmar and Vietnam), the Middle East and Africa. GFG Group and Attra will combine forces to offer payment solutions and services at a keener price-point than would otherwise be possible.
In many emerging markets, services and solutions at a New Zealand price-point are prohibitively expensive, Wayne Robinson says.
“Our partnership with Attra provides a low-cost, off-shore alternative. Where it makes sense we can off-shore to India rather than hiring additional staff in New Zealand. This model also works for clients in developed markets, as in the case of ME Bank. Usually, to meet compliance and regulation testing requirements the client needs to provide people to GFG Group for training, or have GFG Group provide trained staff. Now, fully trained Attra staff can fill this requirement, working either onsite or remotely. Demand from banks and financial institutions for compliance testing is increasing. The opportunity is there for them to use a trained and certified Attra resource to do this. This frees clients up to focus on business development.”
The Head of Attra’s Australian division, Rajat Agrawal, says the partnership is significant and a win for both companies.
“The united go-to-market strategy will enable both partners to provide robust and innovative cards and payments solutions to many more customers,” Agrawal says.
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About Attra
Attra is a leading IT solutions and services delivery provider with its focus on the banking, finance and payments industry. The company provides a range of specialised IT services including consultancy, application management, independent testing, portfolio migration, production support and integration. Attra addresses the changing needs of business with solutions that are flexible, cost-effective, quick to deploy and reliable. Attra's team of over 500 professionals provide services predominantly in the areas of cards and loans, switching, compliances, fraud & risk, core banking and investment banking. Attra’s clients include multinational banks, financial institutions and card processors across 19 countries and five continents. Headquartered in Australia, Attra has offices in five regions across the globe: Asia (India and Singapore), Australia (Surrey Hills, Victoria), Middle East (Dubai UAE), Europe (London, UK) and the Americas (San Francisco, USA; Ontario, Canada). For more information, visit www.attra.com
About GFG Group
GFG Group is a leading global provider of innovative consumer electronic payments solutions and services to banks, mobile network operators (MNOs) and third party processors. More than 90 organisations in over 30 countries, including three of the world’s top 20 MNOs, use GFG Group solutions for cards management, mobile payments and banking, and testing. GFG Group’s proven card payment solution CadencieTM , mobile payment solution SimfonieTM, and testing tools and applications – FINsim, Gateway and PINselect – use bank-grade security and enable customers to launch products on open platforms – faster and with less operational cost. The combination of greater speed to market and lower operational costs delivered by GFG Group solutions gives customers a measurably faster return on investment. GFG Group’s core research and development team is based in Auckland, New Zealand, with sales, consulting and support staff operating from offices in Melbourne, Australia; Manila in the Philippines; and Dubai, UAE. For more information, visit www.gfg-group.com
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Released by Sayle Noble & Associates on behalf of GFG Group Limited. For more information please contact Natalie Moerdyk on +649 307 8450 or email natalie@noble.co.nz
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