Interblocks Ltd: An Ideal Integrated Innovator of Electronic Payment Processing Solutions

Us humans, full of capacity with intellect and innovative intuition, have no place else to go but forward- enter the holy-grail of technological advancements in fintech and digital wallet. The woes of standing in payment queues and then counting loose change at the counter after an excruciating wait shall no more be your mood damper. With the remarkable features that digital wallets bring forth, neither could you lose a wallet full of cards that need voidance nor could you be doomed with retained cards at a questionable ATM. The concept of a digital wallet resembles the ultimate epitome of success considering the level of steady acceptance that both banks and their customers have portrayed in digitized transactions. The projected figures of digital channel acceptance among consumers in the future is urging banks to invest substantial amounts in developing mobile payment solutions to deliver over-the-top service to their consumers with the guarantee of ultimate security. In an era where data security and protection takes top priority above all else, it is essential that consumers be spared their peace of mind engaging in digitized transactions as per their needs. On that note, kudos to those innovative companies at the forefront of this digital transformation making waves with their novel mindsets and leveraging cutting-edge technologies, for their undying service to the future promise of the economy.

Convenience is at the core of any commercial concept that takes the world by storm on the daily. The articulate incorporation of consumers’ needs into a seamless process of functions constantly ensure that consumers place their dire trust and reliance on such service providers. Although this is a common denominator across any industry, it is specially more so in the financial services industry, which on a regular basis deals with an alarming amount of invaluable, sensitive data.

Interblocks is a leading modern day payment enabler who empowers banks and financial service providers to bear aloft the way financial transactions are executed. It provides consumers the luxury of a unified solution that allows them to store their e-cards, cards and accounts in a single platform, where P2P transfers can be done via an abundance of media including social media.

Champion of Strong Solutions Right from its Inception

Since its inception in the year 2000, Interblocks has successfully strived at the forefront of delivering high quality, convenient and secure payment solutions. Incorporating some of the most idyllic technology, the Interblocks iSuite™was founded- a Next-Generation Service Delivery Platform equipped to cover all customer touchpoints delivering highly personalized services and the capacity to offer a multitude of financial services.

Surpassing its initial founding as a project based company, Interblocks has evolved well, in the process presenting numerous software products which are applicable to all banking channels. They have managed to set benchmarks with their impeccable solutions such as a Transaction Switching System which anchors the commercial utility of International Financial Exchange (IFX) standards in its functions, which today acts as the foundation of Open Banking Platforms. These fresh state-of-the-art solutions placed the company as a ‘trailblazer’ in fintech.

Such clever endeavors have put Interblocks ‘on the map’ and since then has been fiercely progressing setting benchmarks of all sorts. Interblocks has also played a commendable role in ushering the e-commerce and m-commerce eras into Sri Lanka, with the launching of their first Secure Payment Gateway as well as the first In-app payment solution.  Furthermore, they were also the 1^st to launch a Fraud Management System with learning and decision-making algorithms, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Behavioral Analysis.

Why Interblocks?

Suffice to say, Interblocks’s reliable electronic payment processing solution is answer enough to this question. The ‘InterblocksiWallet^TM’ for end-users, merchants as well as agents enables them to connect to any payment processor the likes of Visa, MasterCard, UPI, JCB and Amex. In addition to this, it also allows users to multiple QR formats such as EMV, Alipay, WeChat Pay and Proprietary QR formats making it an extremely user-friendly platform for both the user and the merchant. Its responsive web technology not only allows convenient accessibility via any web-enabled device to its accounts dashboard, transfers and payments on the go.

The advanced functionalities that Interblocks’ system features makes it a far cry from any other solution available within the market at present. Their impeccable degree of ‘future-proofing’ ensures a greater competitive edge and investment protection for its users. Furthermore, its functional, technological and platform-independent attributes enable its customers to easily incorporate advanced functionalities to streamline the services provided by the system.

Mr. Dinesh Rodrigo, the owner of the company says, “InterblocksiSuite™ being a true multi-channel service delivery platform enables the sharing of data across multiple channels while offering a 360° view of the customer and improved cross-selling and services levels.”

Pushing the Boundaries of What’s Possible

At Interblocks’, their belief is that in order to stay at the forefront of innovation, continuous learning is integral. Hence the alignment framework developed and practiced by the company closely follows latest business developments and evolving requirements to make sure they are met at the nick of time.

Their dedicated team of Research and Development specialists focus on delivering specific and critical input to the organization in terms of new developments associated with the accessibility of products such as mobile technologies and fathom means to further optimize the product performance.

Mr. Rodrigo says, “Being aware of our existence in the knowledge industry, we consider our people as our core biggest asset, our ‘stars’ as we’d like to call them. They have been sourced and harmonized from various industries so that the organization has rich domain knowledge.”

Maintaining a global perspective of the industry’s road ahead, its clients, market focus and the role of the organization, the company builds the strategy solutions consistently maintaining quality, longer cycles, and continuous product innovations.

Mr. Rodrigo says, “We envision a future which will be cashless and all payments will be done via digital channels. He adds, “Therefore, our focus is continuously enhancing our Digital Banking product line to address the growing customer needs.”

The Global Outlook for Digital Wallets

The evolution of the ‘digital wallet’ concept has long been becoming. Considering its traceable history running back to Coca Cola enabling a vending machine based in Helsinki to dispense a drink via a text message in the year 1997, it is safe to say that the concept has evolved meticulously and monumentally over the years. The near universal presence of mobile devices has fueled the adoption of mobile payment solutions and subsequently the lenience towards non-cash transactions.  The rise of mobile payment usage at breakneck speeds has experts predicting that its usage will exceed $4.6 trillion (by a staggering 28%)in value globally by the year 2022, surpassing both credit cards and cash usage by value. This complete radical shift towards inculcating a ‘cashless economy’ is not too far off and is plentifully clear considering the demand that is evident in economies as small as that of Sri Lanka, where, based on Central Bank Statistics, the 1^st quarter of 2018 alone has seen a percentage increase of 210.6% in transaction value of customer account based mobile payment systems.

Interblocks iWallet™

In a demanding environment as that which prevails in the global market, the versatility of iWallet is not just commendable, it is also a very timely solution to cater to the soaring market demand.  The seamless design of the application brings together the diverse top-of-the-line functionalities to provide the users with a wholesome digital transaction experience. What is most impressive about the platform is that its extensive features by no means have let up on the level of security that the system provides. Biometric security procedures coupled with other secondary initiatives such as permissions ensure tight security within the application. Interactive payment features such as QR scanning, top-ups, NFC payments and social payments make the solution a rather attractive option for users considering the level of convenience it allows them. Taking the functionality of the system a mile further, the analytics of iWallet provide exceptional insights for customers as per their usage patterns and gives them the luxury of capitalizing on it to streamline their transactions in the future. For vendors who deploy the iWallet, opportunities for cross-selling are immense as it supports innovative functionalities the likes of loan requests via the application, account opening as well as altering account fundamentals.  With the committed retinue of specialists at Interblocks, the plans ahead for this already exceptional solution are boundless. With a key objective to deliver an optimal solution like none other to its customer base, the future of Interblocks iSuite^TM  looks very bright.

A Brighter Future with New Adventure

The fruition of a vibrant capital and business partnership undertaken in May 2018 between Japan’s Hitachi-Omron Terminal Solutions and Interblocks was witnessed in July of 2019 with the complete acquisition of Interblocks by Hitachi-Omron. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi-Omron, Interblocks has placed itself in a much brighter position for growth and expansion sharing wider knowledge and technologies. “With Interblocks joining our group, we are confident that we will now be able to work in closer collaboration to share expertise and technologies that will help develop a new generation of solutions for the financial and payment market,” says Tetsuya Yagi, President of Hitachi-Omron in a recent press release statement.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Hitachi-Omron Terminal Solutions is a member of the Hitachi Group and a leading vendor of cash recycling ATMs in the world. It provides highly reliable ATM and bank systems that address real user needs. The company supports a secure, safe, and comfortable society through prominent technologies and innovative solutions.

Since the commencement of the business alliance with Interblocks, the teams have been jointly developing solutions for payment channels. And in a very short period, it has received numerous inquiries which have been converted into a viable business. Hitachi-Omron remarks that the invaluable contributions made in terms of software development by the Interblocks team have been vital to this success.

In light of the expertise and core technologies picked up from cash recycling ATMs, Hitachi-Omron Terminal Solutions will build up an integrated payment infrastructure with Interblocks’ solutions, software, and services of Hitachi Payment Services to develop cash and non-cash payment-related service solutions.