News

Level Four Software starts expansion company in U.S., names CEO

September 12, 2004

MIAMI -- Level Four Software, a provider of ATM test and development software, has expanded its global footprint with the launch of a new company in the U.S.

Level Four Americas LLC was opened recently in Miami to bring Level Four's ATM Channel Development Suite to customers in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Jorge Fernandez, the founder and former CEO of Capture Systems, a U.S.-based company that pioneered the concept of off-premise ATMs in Latin America and the Caribbean, joins Level Four Americas as president and CEO. Fernandez has spent more than 15 years building sales, revenue and profitability with payment-processing products.

"With Jorge's in-depth knowledge of the domestic ATM environment, we recognized a huge business opportunity in the Americas for Level Four's ATM test and development tools, and we will now be aggressively targeting both North America and Latin America as key expansion areas," said Martin Macmillan, CEO of Level Four Software Ltd.

"No one in the Americas can currently deliver the in-depth level of ATM testing functionality that Level Four is already delivering to major banks throughout Europe and the Middle East," Fernandez said. "Level Four's tools support rapid functional changes across ATM networks and provide automated testing from the desktop. This positively impacts time to market of new functionality and delivers crucial competitive advantage for banks competing in aggressive consumer markets."

Included in Level Four's ATM Channel Development Suite of ATM testing and development tools are key components that will be of specific interest to North American retail banks. For banks that are considering the introduction of depositing and scanning checks at the ATM in light of Check 21, extensive testing of this new functionality is vital. Level Four's Check Processing Module will enable banks to ensure this new functionality is fully tested before offering the service to customers.

Banks in the region, particularly in Latin America, are now starting to look seriously at chip card migration projects. Level Four believes the experience it has gained with major European financial institutions who have already migrated to use chip will be invaluable.

In addition, as domestic banks throughout the Americas migrate from existing OS/2-based legacy systems to the Microsoft Windows platform, extensive ATM network testing will be required. The ATM Channel Development Suite has inbuilt flexibility to adapt to a bank's individual demands and can integrate with any type or combination of ATM hardware and software.