Milan-based technology services firm SIA Group has bagged a tender from Bank of Italy for the management of the Interbank Register of Bad Cheques and Payment Cards (Centrale di Allarme Interbancaria - CAI).
Image: Bank of Italy selects SIA to manage the CAI register. Photo: courtesy of Szilas/Wikipedia.org.
CAI is the digital archive of illicit bank and postal cheques and credit and debit cards that help in ensuring the smooth operations of the national payments system. It was established by law after the depenalisation of a series of minor offences such as issuing of cheques without authorisation or without funds.
As per the contract, SIA will manage the CAI central infrastructure, owned by the Bank of Italy, and also interconnections with remote sections at reporting institutions, for a period of eight years.
According to the tech company, the development of new applicative functions and the use of infrastructural components, including its Active-Active technology architecture, are offered to guarantee round-the-clock continuity in the provision of services.
The CAI register contains personal information of the individuals who issued bank and postal checks without authorisation or without having the required funds. It also has the personal details of the individuals whose authorisation to use debit and credit cards was revoked owing to non-payment of sums associated with transactions or withdrawals done by using the card.
The register also contains details on administrative and penal sanctions applied by the Italian prefects and the judicial authorities respectively for unauthorised issuing of bank and postal cheques or those made without the required funds.
Furthermore, it holds the data in anonymous form identifying the bank and postal cheques and high-risk payment cards like the ones which are lost, stolen, or blocked for other reasons.
Earlier this year, Payments Canada selected SIA as the application provider for Lynx, Canada’s new high-value payments system.
SIA will closely work with Payments Canada and major industry stakeholders on the next version of the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) application solution to deliver on the needs for the future of payments in the country, in accordance with Canadian and international risk standards.
SIA, which serves financial institutions and central banks among others, provides design, creation and management of technology infrastructures and services in the areas of payments, cards, capital markets and network services.