Payment Systems Implementation Specialist and Project Director
Alana has 19 years experience in the payment solutions field, both issuing and acquiring. She managed and help implemented many products for payment, ranging from card to mobile.
Her career started at Standard Bank Card division in 1989, where she learnt the payment card and acquiring business. In 1996 the group was part of an outsourcing deal to EDS, a multinational solutions company. There she was part of the IT team as a Business analyst and Project Manager and implemented a range of projects some of which include: the Card and Merchant services systems migration and integration, Maestro Debit certification both card and point of sale, Postilion switch implementation, MasterCard and Visa certification, 3D Secure and VbyV Certification and Y2K, just to mention a few.
In 2000 and again in 2007 she moved to ATM Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Transaction Capital which offers a one-stop Turnkey Solution for Card (DrawCard), Point of Sale (EFTPOS), ATM (ATM Solutions), Cash Management (Cash Connect) and Commerce (Setcom). There she utilise her Card, Payments, Switching and Commerce skills in various projects such as ATM Deployment and routing in Mauritius and other locations, Hypercom Point of sale EMV Certification, 3D Secure/VbyV certification, Visa Certification for Prepaid Co-Branded Cards, Payroll Cards and Mobile Commerce Services. Some of the transactions sets include, purchase, withdrawals, Bill Payments, Prepaid Airtime, Payroll Loads and Funds reservation.
The most logical move in the payments field would be Mobile Payments. In 2004, Alana took up the opportunity to join Cointel-SimPlus as a Project Manager, where she planned, controlled and executed the Mobile Commerce Platform, which went live in Namibia, South Africa and Kenya using channels such as USSD, IVR, SMS, WAP, JAVA and Web. The Mobile products included: Full Mobile Retail Banking, Mobile Acquiring (Merchants accepting card on Mobile Phone), Mobile Recharge and Top Up, Mobile Bill Payments and Mobile P2P Payments. Some of the MNO’s involved in the Mobile Platform included Vodacom, MTN, Safaricom and MTC.
In March 2008 Alana founded Commpass Consulting, a Commerce and Payments Solutions Consulting company, where she has contracted into the likes of TroyTyla, founded by Gavin Krugel – Partner and Managing Director, to evaluate the key role players in the Mobile and Retail market offering Money Transfer solutions to the unbanked marked in Africa.
Commpass Consulting contracts and subcontracts into organisations, specialising in the Payments field. These include issuing, acquiring, POS, Mobile, ATM, Postilion, Switching, Commerce and many more. Alana has a host of contacts which span the globe and aid in the gathering of market related data and trends.
Key Skills:
Ø Project Management
Ø Business Analysis Ø MIS Analysis and Reporting Ø Relationship Management Ø Quality Assurance Control Ø Business Process Analysis Ø Risk Management Ø Specifications (BRS, FRS etc) Ø Business Continuity Planning Ø Testing Ø Simulation Testing Ø Training Ø Query analysis and resolution Ø JAD Facilitation and Workshops Ø Data Modelling Ø System Integration Ø Test Analysis Ø System Solutions Recommendation
STRENGTHS:
Payment and transaction ProcessingKnowledge of the industry standard and switching protocolsIntegration of payment channels
