Our Technology

What is U.E.P.S.?

Background Information on the Technology

The first payment system developed using the FTS Patents is the proprietary system called the U.E.P.S. (Universal Electronic Payment System). The first commercial electronic purse ever launched.

U.E.P.S. is a fully integrated method of transacting electronically, with all the benefits of using cash but with none of the attendant risks. It can replace all the current financial delivery systems such as bank notes and coins, credit and debit cards, checks and passbooks.

Utilizing this patented technology, Net1 has developed and implemented a variety of unique systems that open the door for un-banked, under-banked and banked markets in emerging economies worldwide. The U.E.P.S. system has been designed to eliminate previous deficiencies encountered in electronic fund payment systems and to improve the lifestyles of its users. The system is user-friendly and compatible with all international banking systems.

Whilst fundamental in terms of its social and environmental impact on the population of many of the world’s undeveloped economies, the U.E.P.S. technology makes just as powerful an impression on the business models and profitability of first world financial and commercial enterprises.

Benefits

Imagine a secure national payment system:

• With universal reach, U.E.P.S. representing a utility unhindered by formal telecommunications infrastructures.
• That manages the flow of funds between consumers, merchants and financial service providers.
• That operates with the best cutting edge international technology, protected by global patents.

Imagine convenient, secure cashless transactions:

• Requiring no online communication infrastructure or authorization procedures.
• Protected to eliminate unauthorized abuse.
• Incorporating a clear audit trail for tracking, reconciliation and loss tolerance.
• Purchasing with the trading power of millions of consumers.

Imagine the impact of endlessly versatile information management systems:

• Providing a powerful, seamless collection of critical trading data.
• Protected and managed by secure technology and easily interfaced with resident systems.
• With a user base of millions possessing massive and active spending power.

Security

The e-commerce explosion continues to be thwarted by security issues, the lack of verification and consumer reluctance to disclose sensitive credit or debit account information over the Internet.

Net1’s U.E.P.S. technology nullifies these concerns through the patented end-to-end security protocol that ensures that any active communication can only be interpreted by the cardholder and the merchant cards. The security algorithms and audit trail further counter the risk of fraud, repudiation or non-payment through the system.

The FTS Patent has been acclaimed by leading cryptographic authorities around the world as the most innovative and secure protocol ever invented to manage offline and online smart card related transactions. Please see the independent report by Bruce Schneider in his book entitled Applied Cryptography, 2nd Edition published in the late 1990s.

The security of the system does not rely on the terminal hardware or the communications network that is used to transfer the resulting information. The protocols include cryptographic algorithms from the Data Encryption Standard (DES) to the more modern Elliptic Curve system. This methodology distinguishes the U.E.P.S. technology from all its competitors.

Key Features of the U.E.P.S. Payment System:

The U.E.P.S. technology includes functionality that allows the following:

• Transparent and Automatic Recovery
• Transaction Cancellation
• Refunds
• Multiple Audit Trails
• Offline Loading
• Biometric Identification
• Continuous Debit
• Multiple Wallets
• Morphing
• Automatic Credit
• Automatic Debit
• Interest Calculations
• Milking / Batching

The U.E.P.S. Versus its Competitors:

The U.E.P.S. distinguishes itself from its competitors, with reference to cash, checks, credit and debit cards, as well as from other smart card based payment systems, in the following ways:

• Little or no technology, and specifically no security, is required in the terminal itself thus reducing costs and allowing the effective proliferation of merchant points.
• The terminal network can operate with or without the use of any communications infrastructure.
• The security encryption protocols enable cardholders to receive fund loading instructions from a third party through any insecure communication channel, such as word-of-mouth, telephonically, in newspaper, or any analogue or digital network.

“Net1’s commitment to ongoing technological innovation and product development will ensure that it remains a world leader in smart card related technologies.”

The U.E.P.S. Technology Deployment

Net1's U.E.P.S. technology is widely used in Africa, the CIS Republics, Russia and the Middle East and is making inroads into Vietnam, Indonesia, Colombia and other developing markets, where new projects have been rolled out. In South Africa today, over 3.8 million clients in five provinces receive social welfare grants on Net1 smart cards. Increasingly, these customers are using their smart cards at participating merchants to receive and spend their grants.

In Ghana, Net1 has implemented a National smart card settlement and switching system, which is now the de-facto payment standard and provides inter-operability with, and to, all the other payment systems, such as VISA and Mastercard.

In Iraq, Net1 has commenced the implementation of a National Payment System which already includes the two largest banks in Iraq, as well as a number of Government agencies.

In Russia, Net1's U.E.P.S., locally named DUET, has deployed in excess of 7 million cards to SBERbank's clients and the system is also present in numerous CIS republics.

Net1 technology incorporates software, smart cards, payment terminals, back-end infrastructure and transaction security, these technologies are coupled with years of experience in developing, integrating and upgrading transaction systems.

Within industry, Net1 technologies are applied to electronic commerce transactions  to provide solutions in the fields of social security, wage distribution, banking, medical and patient management, international money transfers, voting and identification systems.

Market sectors include Government and NGOs, Healthcare, Telecoms, Financial Institutions, Retailers, Petroleum and Utilities.