Every financial institution has a
different challenge.

"I need to route and authorise transactions"

Payment Switching & Processing

ION8 implements and supports payment switch platforms that route, authorise, and settle transactions across ATM, POS, mobile, and online channels — connecting your institution to domestic and international payment schemes.

"I need to manage my card portfolio"

Card Management System (CMS)

ION8 deploys and configures Card Management Systems that handle the complete card lifecycle — issuance, activation, PIN management, fraud monitoring, and scheme compliance — across credit, debit, prepaid, and virtual card products.

"I need to print cards for my customers"

Card Personalisation & Bureau Services

ION8 delivers end-to-end card production capability — from setting up your card perso bureau to running your card production:

• Card Perso Bureau Design & Setup — full card personalisation card perso bureau design, equipment selection, HSM infrastructure, and scheme certification
• Bulk & Batch Card Production — high-volume card runs for institutions needing regular production cycles
• Instant Issuance — branch-level on-the-spot card printing, putting a card in the customer's hand right away

Personalisation methods supported

Embossing, Indent printing, Laser engraving, Thermal transfer, Flat/unembossed printing

Card types & materials

• Standard PVC — contact chip (EMV), dual interface (EMV + contactless)
• Metal cards — premium cardholder experience
• Eco-friendly cards — recycled PVC, ocean-bound plastic, bio-sourced materials (PLA), wood-based — aligned with Visa and Mastercard sustainable card programmes

"I need to accept payments in-store or on the move, and online"

Acquiring, SoftPOS & Payment Gateway

ION8 enables financial institutions and merchants to accept payments across every channel:

In-store or on the move

• Physical POS — PAX, Ingenico and other leading terminals
• SoftPOS — turn any Android smartphone into a certified payment terminal, ideal for mobile merchants on the road
• ATM — GRG, NCR, Herong deployment, configuration, and management
• HSM provision and configuration for secure key management across your network

Online ecommerce

• White-labelled Payment Gateway — hosted on your own infrastructure for full control and branding
• Merchant orchestration — for smaller merchants unable to process online independently: a ready-to-go platform already connected to multiple payment gateways, maximising approval rates and lowering costs
• Merchant onboarding — ION8 has relationships with gateways across multiple regions that can onboard merchants rapidly, taking the compliance and operational burden away from you

"I need to enable digital wallets and protect card data with tokenisation"

Digital Card Issuance & Tokenisation

ION8 connects financial institutions to a specialist tokenisation platform that enables the full digital card experience — and protects every transaction with network tokens.

For issuers and banks

Enable your cardholders to provision their card to Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay in real time — without waiting for a physical card. Extend payment capability to certified secure wearables including rings, bracelets and key fobs. Issue digital and virtual cards instantly, with full token lifecycle management — provisioning, suspension, resumption and deletion — through a unified dashboard and API.

For merchants and PSPs

Replace sensitive card data with network tokens — reducing fraud exposure, lowering chargeback rates, improving authorisation rates and ensuring payment credentials remain valid even when cards are replaced or expired.

Digital card tokenisation services are delivered through ION8's specialist technology partner. Partner name available upon request.

"I need to authenticate cardholders and secure e-commerce transactions"

Payment Authentication & 3D Secure

ION8 connects financial institutions and merchants to a specialist 3D Secure authentication platform — covering both sides of the authentication flow.

For issuers and banks

Deploy a configurable Access Control Server (ACS) that handles real-time 3D Secure authentication for your cardholders during online purchases. Support multiple authentication methods — in-app biometrics, OTP, and transaction history — with full control over authentication rules per BIN range through a dedicated management portal.

For merchants and acquirers

Integrate a lightweight 3DS Server (MPI — Merchant Plug-In) that handles scheme authentication requests with minimal engineering effort. Most integrations go live in under a week. Fully EMV 3DS 2.x compliant, supporting Visa and Mastercard authentication flows for card-not-present transactions — reducing fraud liability and improving approval rates.

3D Secure authentication services are delivered through ION8's specialist technology partner. Partner name available upon request.

"I need digital and mobile banking"

Mobile & Internet Banking

ION8 delivers mobile and internet banking platforms built for financial institutions operating in dynamic and growing markets — feature-rich smartphone apps and internet banking portals that give customers full control of their finances, anywhere, anytime.

"I am losing money — and I can't see where"

Reconciliation & Dispute Management

ION8 connects financial institutions to an enterprise-grade back-office platform — purpose-built for payment operations at scale. Fully automated reconciliation, AI-powered matching, and end-to-end dispute handling, delivered as a managed service so your team focuses on the business, not the back office.

Automated Reconciliation

• 2-way, 3-way and 4-way reconciliation — across Scheme (Visa/Mastercard), Switch, Core Banking, and terminal devices in a single unified ledger
• AI rule engine with pattern matching — automated transaction matching that resolves the vast majority of exceptions without human intervention
• Scheme settlement verification — know precisely what you are owed by Visa or Mastercard every settlement cycle, automatically flagging discrepancies before they become losses
• File processing at volume — handles DMS, LIS, Base II, CTF and ITF file formats natively, ingested via a secure, automated pipeline

Dispute & Chargeback Management

• Native scheme integration — chargebacks and fraud claims processed directly through Mastercard, Visa, and Amex dispute platforms — no manual re-keying, no translation layer
• Significantly faster resolution — structured workflows with SLA tracking mean disputes move through each stage faster and with full audit trail
• Win-rate improvement — consistent, evidence-driven responses submitted within scheme deadlines improve outcomes on representments and pre-arbitration

Visibility & Reporting

• Real-time unified dashboards across all reconciliation and dispute workstreams
• Automated regulatory reporting with full accuracy guarantee
• Centralised issue tracking and SLA monitoring across the entire back-office function

Reconciliation and dispute management services are delivered through ION8's specialist back-office technology partner. ION8 manages the introduction, integration, and ongoing relationship.

"I need to test my payment systems safely"

Simulators & Test Environments

ION8 provides a complete suite of payment system simulators — eliminating the need to use production infrastructure for testing:

• ATM Simulator — no need to pull a live ATM from your network or maintain a separate test machine. Simulate any ATM scenario including hardware faults, card jams, and network failures — impossible to replicate on a physical device
• POS Simulator — test acquiring flows, contactless, EMV, and fallback scenarios without physical terminals
• ISO & ICC Simulators — test host interfaces and chip card interactions in a controlled environment
• HSM Simulator — replace your physical HSM in test environments, eliminating the cost and complexity of dedicated test HSM infrastructure. Full cryptographic simulation for key management testing
• Load Testing — simulate hundreds of ATMs simultaneously on your network and observe how your switch and core banking systems behave under peak load — before it happens in production

"I need to onboard customers quickly and compliantly"

KYC & Customer Onboarding

ION8 implements digital KYC and customer onboarding workflows that reduce friction for your customers while keeping you fully compliant with local and international regulations.

• Digital identity verification — document capture, liveness detection, and automated ID checks
• Tiered onboarding — risk-based customer classification from day one, aligned with your regulatory requirements
• Workflow automation — structured, auditable processes that eliminate manual bottlenecks and reduce onboarding time from days to minutes
• AI-assisted review — automated document review and exception handling, with human-in-the-loop for edge cases

"I need to detect and report suspicious activity"

AML & Transaction Monitoring

ION8 helps financial institutions implement and tune AML controls that catch real threats without drowning your compliance team in false positives.

• Transaction monitoring rules — configuration and tuning of monitoring scenarios aligned to your risk appetite and regulatory environment
• Sanctions screening — real-time screening against global sanctions lists, PEPs, and adverse media
• SAR workflow — structured suspicious activity reporting workflows, fully auditable and regulator-ready
• Periodic review automation — automated customer risk rescoring and enhanced due diligence triggers

"I need to achieve or maintain PCI DSS compliance"

PCI DSS Certification

PCI DSS certification requires a formal assessment conducted by an accredited Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) — ION8 is not a QSA and does not conduct PCI assessments.

What ION8 does is connect you directly to our specialist PCI partner — a CREST-accredited, ISO 27001 certified, QSA-accredited organisation with a proven track record across major international financial institutions.

They handle the full certification process. ION8 makes the introduction and ensures the right connection is made for your organisation.

PCI DSS assessments are conducted exclusively by ION8's independent QSA-accredited partner. ION8 holds no PCI accreditation and acts solely as an introducer for this service.

"I need a full digital banking platform"

Alpha Banking & Highgate

ION8 deploys and supports Alpha Banking — a comprehensive digital banking platform built for banks and financial institutions that need a modern, scalable core without the multi-year build.

• Core banking engine — accounts, deposits, loans, and ledger management on a single platform
• Digital channels — mobile and internet banking, pre-integrated and ready to launch
• Payments hub — domestic and international payment rails, SWIFT, and scheme connectivity
• Highgate — Alpha Banking's embedded finance layer, enabling non-bank businesses to offer financial products under their own brand

ION8 is a certified implementation and support partner for Alpha Banking and Highgate.

"I need to move money across borders, simply and compliantly"

Cross-Border & FX Payments

ION8 connects businesses and financial institutions to a cross-border and FX payments platform that simplifies international money movement — with real human support at every step.

Multi-currency accounts with local banking details in 100+ currencies, wholesale FX rates from 0.2% with transparent markups, SWIFT, SEPA, ACH and local payment rails with bulk payment capability, and local collections and payouts across 12+ African markets — all regulated by 5 international regulatory bodies.

Cross-border payments services are provided through ION8's regulated partner network. Available corridors and currencies vary by market.

"I need expertise, assurance and training"

Consultancy & Expert Services

Project Management

ION8 provides PMI-certified payment project managers who ensure your implementation is delivered on time, within scope, and successfully certified. We act as the bridge between your internal teams, your payment service providers, and the scheme certification bodies — keeping every workstream aligned and moving.

Platform Experts

• PowerCARD (HPS) — implementation, configuration, upgrades, and troubleshooting
• Postilion (ACI) — switch deployment, optimisation, and migration
• Surnia/WiseCard — implementation and operational support
• EPS/BITS — implementation and support
• Network & Scheme Certification — Visa, Mastercard, and domestic scheme certification assistance

Payment Systems Health Checks

ION8 conducts structured assessments of your live payment environment — switch, CMS, acquiring infrastructure, and card department processes and organisational structure. Every health check concludes with a detailed recommendation report with prioritised actions.

Training

• Platform training: PowerCARD, Postilion, Surnia, EPS/BITS
• Payment fundamentals for technical and business teams
• Security awareness, PCI DSS awareness, and fraud pattern refresher courses
• PCI DSS certification — ION8 makes the introduction to our QSA-accredited partner who handles the full certification process

"I need to choose the right payment platform or vendor"

RFP & Vendor Strategy

ION8 guides financial institutions through the vendor selection process — from defining requirements to shortlisting, scoring, and negotiating with payment technology providers.

• Requirements definition — translating your business and regulatory needs into structured, vendor-neutral technical and functional requirements
• RFP design & management — crafting RFP documents, managing vendor responses, and running structured evaluation processes
• Vendor scoring & shortlisting — independent, criteria-driven scoring across technical capability, commercial terms, and implementation track record
• Negotiation support — ION8 draws on deep knowledge of payment platform pricing and contract structures to help you negotiate from an informed position
• Proof of concept oversight — scoping and managing PoC engagements to validate vendor claims before contract signature