Across every channel in real time.
7x24x365 authorisation of payments.
CardX enables payments and transactions to be authorised everywhere in real time 24/7 and 365 days a year. From ATM cash withdrawals to payments at the point of sale or online, and by card, TWINT or other instant payment services. CardX checks and authorises credit quality and so avoids the risk of the payer becoming overdrawn. The solution offers flexible expansion options and can be adapted swiftly to the changing market. New means of payment can be integrated easily to produce a state-of-the-art customer experience.
Advantages at a glance
Multi-channel authorisation in real time
Global acceptance, optimised security and total control of sales: ATMs, point of-sale transactions, e-commerce, hotel and rental reservations, TWINT, interbank, coin deposit machines, prepaid card business, cashless counters, QR code withdrawals at ATMs are all fully integrated. Ready for other instant payment services such as SIC-IP and TIPS.
Debit cards with boundless possibilities
Customers enjoy all the advantages of a credit card with the simplicity of a debit card: support for the latest generation of Debit Mastercards and Visa Debit cards.
TWINT integration
Secure cashless payments with Switzerland’s mobile payment standard, TWINT.
Flexible integration of modern frontend services
Full ATMfutura support including direct booking (dual message) and connection to Pialink, Flexlink, and counter services.
7x24x365 availability
Unlimited uptime with no service interruptions during maintenance of the core banking system.
Failsafe and scalable
Processes run independently in multiple (typically duplicated) instances.
Test tool for seamless security
Expandable, automated test suite that models every possible transaction and business case to test authorisations and correct processing within the core banking system.
Ready for SIC Instant Payments
The introduction of SIC-IP presents the Swiss payments system with the challenge of processing individual payments within a maximum of ten seconds, 7x24x365. It is not designed to do that, which is where CardX comes in. The solution is already SIC-IP-capable.
Future-proof with new range of digital services
Cutting-edge performance and customer-focused services with optimised security and total control of sales.
Integration of CardX
Instant authorisation of payments
- SIX Pialink version 6.6: ATMfutura (OTIS/OSTA), Debit Mastercard/Visa Debit, TWINT, QR code
- Viseca Flexlink version 1.2: including ATMfutura functionality
- ATM service: service for bank’s in-house services such as specialised deposit devices or backup counter applications
- QR code service: authorisation/reservation for ATMfutura QR code withdrawals
- Pre-paid service: account authorisations for credits to pre-paid cards
Flexible management of payment methods

- Customer service and helpline
- Enquiries and notifications for transactions and transaction status
- Limit enquiries, remaining overdraft, customer’s currently available funds, support for customer queries
- Enhanced security and monitoring
- Precise limits per card, including settings for lifetime/annual/monthly/daily and transaction limits for a range of business scenarios (e.g. in-store or e-commerce, domestically or abroad, etc.)
- Geo-blocking enables refusal of withdrawals in certain at-risk countries and prevents skimming
Glossary
ATMfutura | Protocol for latest generation of ATMs |
DTB | Viseca interface for transaction clearing |
Flexlink | Viseca interface for authorisation of card transactions |
KTB | SIX interface for transaction clearing |
OTIS | Online to issuer; element of Pialink (availability authorisation for bank’s own cards) |
OSTA | Online to location; element of Pialink (delivery of all transactions at bank’s own ATMfutura cash machines) |
Pialink | SIX interface for authorisation of card transactions |
POS | Point of sale (e.g. card terminal in a branch of a Coop or Migros supermarket) |
SIC | Swiss Interbank Clearing. Switzerland's central payments system run on behalf of the Swiss National Bank |
SIC-IP | SIC Instant Payments. SIC payments processed in no more than ten seconds, 7x24x365 |
TIPS | TARGET Instant Payment Settlement. EU instant payment scheme |
TWINT | Payment system for cashless payments via OTIS/Pialink |
Simple integration
Existing interface links
- Avaloq core banking system
- Payment method management application
- Monex’s CAS Avaloq module
- Swisscom’s CardOne
Simple linking to new core banking systems
- Accounts and transactions: Account replication with event-driven calculation of account availability (Input interface CardX)
- Transactions: Flagging and accounting interface (Output interface CardX
- Exchange rates (Input interface CardX)
- Payment methods: Payment method replication (Input interface CardX)
Licensing, maintenance and operation
- One-off licence payment
- Annual maintenance and support packages including interface updates due to regulatory changes
- Operates via Swisscom as primary client, or on premise. Other operating models upon request.
Collective advantages
CardX has been running successfully at six Swiss banks since 2001. Collective use means shared costs and a reduction of risk in developing a sustainable solution. Driving innovation together helps create a better customer experience.