TSYS Technology to Help Achieve Financial Inclusion in India

TSYS solutions support people-centered payments in India

COLUMBUS, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TSYS (NYSE: TSS) technology is playing its part in an innovative payment solution launched by Visa in India. The Saral Money program provides Indian consumers with access to financial services and electronic payments for the first time by linking Visa accounts to Indian Unique Identification Accounts. As part of this program, TSYS’s technology is used to authenticate account holders by transporting biometric information, such as fingerprints, from the point of sale to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Once the account holder is authenticated using biometric information, the transaction information such as amount of the purchase and merchant type is then submitted to Visa’s network for processing.

“Visa continues to invest in new and innovative technologies to give more financially underserved consumers in developing countries access to electronic payments”

With approximately 70 percent of the total population based in rural India, much of India currently remains unbanked or under-banked, with little or no access to financial services or electronic payment options. The roll-out of a 12 digit unique identification number, ‘Aadhaar’, initiated by the Indian Government in late 2010, is set to change this by providing a form of identification that will help facilitate easier access to financial services. The impact of the UIDAI project is far reaching and set to have a significant positive social impact enabling, for example, financial inclusion programs, such as disbursement of government funded social benefits to Indian residents — and extended access to banking and payment services through payment scheme enabled systems.

“TSYS is proud to support Visa and the Saral Money program in India to enable broader access to financial services for Indian consumers,” said Amit Sethi, managing director, India and Southeast Asia, TSYS. “This initiative is a perfect example of TSYS’s recently reaffirmed commitment to people-centered payments.”

“Visa continues to invest in new and innovative technologies to give more financially underserved consumers in developing countries access to electronic payments,” said Darren Parslow, global head of Processing, Visa Inc. “The Saral Money program and the integration of biometric authentication technology provided by TSYS, is a good example of what we can achieve by tailoring Visa’s processing solutions to the needs of governments, consumers and financial institutions.”

TSYS has also been instrumental in setting up the PIF India Chapter of the not-for-profit Prepaid International Forum, www.prepaidforum.org. A patron of the forum since 2007, TSYS is an advocate of prepaid as an alternative payment channel for financial inclusion in India.

Amit Sethi authored two market insight reports on the India market in 2011, entitled ‘Incredible India: Four Imperatives to Accelerate Electronic Payment Adoption in India’ and ‘Mpayments and Prepaid Poised to Define Financial Institutions’ Delivery of Banking & Payment Services to Rural India.’ In October 2012, Amit issued his third report on ‘The Next Frontier: Convergence of Social Media and Payments in India and Southeast Asia.’

All reports are available online:

• www.tsys.com/socialmediaandpaymentswhitepaper
• www.tsys.com/indiampaymentsandprepaidwhitepaper
• www.tsys.com/indiaelectronicpaymentsmarketwhitepaper

About TSYS

At TSYS, (NYSE: TSS), we believe payments should revolve around people — not the other way around. We call this belief "People-Centered Payments^SM." By putting people at the center of every decision we make, with unmatched customer service and industry insight, TSYS is able to support financial institutions, businesses and governments in more than 80 countries. Offering merchant payment-acceptance solutions as well as services in credit, debit, prepaid, mobile, chip, healthcare and more, we make it possible for those in the global marketplace to conduct safe and secure electronic transactions with trust and convenience.

TSYS’ headquarters are located in Columbus, Georgia, with local offices spread across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. TSYS provides services to more than half of the top 20 international banks, and has been named one of the 2012 World's Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere magazine. For more information, please visit us at www.tsys.com.

About PIF

Prepaid International Forum (PIF) is a global not-for-profit trade association established in 2007 to represent all parties participating on a commercial basis in the prepaid economy. It is dedicated to the progression of prepaid commerce around the world and acts as a principal point of liaison between the prepaid economy and government agencies, regulators, consumer bodies and the media. It is focused on the entire prepaid world and facilitates the development of cross-industry guidelines and codes of practice.