News

IFX Forum publishes ATM/POS Implementation Guide

April 19, 2004

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - The Interactive Financial eXchange (IFX) Forum has published a comprehensive ATM/POS Implementation Guide, designed to help business and technical personnel understand how to use IFX to implement all or part of an ATM/POS solution.

According to a news release, the 400-plus page guide will be highlighted at the Forum's annual meeting April 26-30 in London; all current and prospective Forum members are invited to attend.

Beginning April 22, the guide will be available at no charge via download from the IFX Forum's Web site.

(See related stories (Not) lost in translation and IFX Forum approves Version 1.5, reviews guidelines for ATMs)

The IFX Forum is a not-for-profit standards-developing organization working to develop a robust framework for the electronic business-to-business exchange of data among financial service institutions around the world. The current version of its IFX specification, Version 1.5, can be downloaded free of charge from the Forum's Web site.

The ATM/POS Implementation Guide is the culmination of nearly two years of work by the Forum's ATM/POS Working Group, which is chaired by Kendall Draeger of NCR Corporation. The guide explains how to utilize the IFX business messages to communicate information between parties participating in EFT services.

"This working group has thoroughly explored the issues involved in enabling interoperability among transaction generating devices and transaction acquiring systems, and the new guide is the result," said  said Richard P. Urban, IFX Forum president.

Information covered in the guide includes basic IFX concepts; an overview of service provider roles and communications; IFX to ISO integration; and chapters on various types of transactions; security; device statuses; and more.

Prospective members are invited to attend the Forum's London meeting, to become familiar with the group's activities before joining. A special feature for this event will be a half-day educational seminar, open to all at no charge, on the IFX Forum and the IFX Business Message Specification.

Although there is no fee to participate in the seminar or the meeting itself, all attendees must register online or via email by April 21; information is available on the Web site, or contact LeAnn Wilson at info@ifxforum.org.