MagicCube, the creator of the world’s only Software Trusted Execution Environment (SDT) platform, and areeba, the leading issuing and acquiring services provider to banks, financial institutions, merchants and retailers in the Middle East, today announced a technical partnership to deploy a joint product offering contactless SoftPos in the region.
SoftPos is a software-only Point of Sale system that turns any Android-based smartphone or tablet into a contactless payment acceptance terminal. Merchants will need to download the areeba mobile application from Google Play to their mobile device, which then allows their customers to make their payments by tapping their contactless cards, HCE mobile wallets or wearables on the merchant’s mobile device.
Last year, MagicCube was awarded the first certification of a software-based Trusted Execution Environment issued by EMVCo, the consortium owned by American Express, Discover, JCB, Mastercard, UnionPay and Visa. MagicCube’s SDT is completely hardware-independent and works on all major card networks. It offers easy integration, quick deployment, easy operation and unmatched security.
“The Middle East is a huge area of growth that is positioned to benefit greatly from reducing the cost and complexity associated with accepting digitized payments. When software replaces hardware, everything becomes downloadable and upgradeable, allowing the market to grow exponentially. This is akin to upgrading from physical media to streaming services,” MagicCube CEO, Sam Shawki said. “Enabling micro merchants can have a great economic impact and can also be a great accelerator for financial inclusion.”
“As one of the leading technology payment providers in the Middle East, we are proud to partner with MagicCube to launch this revolutionary product that will be a game changer in our region,” areeba CEO, Maher Mikati, said. “With the SoftPos application, areeba will be able to provide a cost-efficient card and mobile payment acceptance solution for all micro merchants, enabling them to accept contactless payments directly via their Android smartphones and increase their sales by embracing digital payments. This will lead to displacing cash usage and switching to a modern cashless economy.”
Other major financial institutions in the region are also taking notice, as MagicCube also announced today that CVentures, CIB’s venture capital arm has made an investment in MagicCube, joining a group of investors led by Bold Capital, Epic Ventures, Sony Innovation Fund, NTT Data, Azure Capital, Visa Inc., and Luqman Weise Capital.
After being named to Network World’s ‘10 Hot IoT Startups to Watch‘ List, heralded as a Cool Vendor in Security and Risk Management by Gartner, and partnering with the PCI Security Standards Council, MagicCube is positioned to lead the SDT category, disrupting the current dominance of hardware based security.
