The customer is a leading Indian IT solutions provider that offers digital transformation services and electronic technology products such as payment terminals, smart cards, and biometric devices. One of its projects was re-certifying the Level 2 kernel for its POS terminals that support contactless EMV transactions for Visa, Mastercard, and RuPay qSparc to ensure the latest compliance with EMV and scheme standards.

What did we do?

As an EMV Level 2 kernel expert, we developed the recertification strategy to the latest Level 2 kernel framework for contactless EMV transactions, as suggested by EMVCo, Visa, Mastercard, and RuPay qSparc.

We documented the latest requirements of the schemes and implemented them in the existing kernel source code of the terminal. We optimized the kernel code, maintained all the kernel's core functionalities, and ensured that the kernel occupied only a tiny footprint.

We built the L3 test harness application individually for each payment scheme to simulate the device for debugging the updated level 2 kernel for Visa, Mastercard, and RuPay qSPARC integration. We tested the L3 test harness application we built to ensure it delivers accurate validation results for each test case.

We then handled the entire certification process of the payment schemes by providing clarity to the certification labs and the customer from start to finish. We completed the certification in the first iteration itself.

What challenges did we address during this project?

1. We performed extensive testing to ensure the kernel meets the functional and performance requirements of the Visa, Mastercard, and RuPay qSparc contactless transactions.
2. We debugged all errors and issues during the testing and certification process.
3. We did performance testing of the kernel by calibrating the time taken for each transaction using the L3 test harness apps we built.
4. We optimized the kernel's footprint without compromising functionality.
5. We handled all the communication with the certification labs to resolve disputes or misinterpretations during the kernel evaluation. We ensured the customer received the VCPS certification in the first iteration itself.
6. The Information Conformance Statement (ICS) defines various certification configurations. Choosing the appropriate configuration is critical because the certification we receive is specific to the selected configuration for each payment scheme. The customer needs to navigate these requirements efficiently.
7. The customer avoided expensive re-iteration and debugging slots with the payment schemes.

Benefits for the customer

This customer was able to launch the terminal to market confidently and with broader acceptance, as the terminal now adheres to the latest regulations of payment schemes.

This was launched four weeks after completing the L3 testing and certification, as the kernel had seamless L3 integration support.

It shortened their recertification time frames from six months to three months.