IFX FORUM POSTS VERSION 1.5 OF IFX SPECIFICATION FOR PUBLIC REVIEW

Press Releases

Questions/comments:
send email to info@ifxforum.org

IFX FORUM POSTS VERSION 1.5 OF IFX SPECIFICATION FOR PUBLIC REVIEW

New Version Will Be Discussed at IFX Forum Meeting, Jan. 13-15 in Dallas

FALLS CHURCH, Va. – Nov. 24, 2003 – The Interactive Financial eXchange (IFX) Forum today published for public review the latest version of the IFX specification, Version 1.5, which extends the ATM, POS, Business and Consumer Banking support provided by earlier versions. This new version builds on IFX’s multi-channel capabilities, such as enabling customers to deposit, withdraw and transfer funds, and allows financial institutions to exchange essential information with their customers, their service providers and other financial institutions.

The IFX Forum is a non-profit standards-developing organization working to develop a robust framework for the electronic business-to-business exchange of data among financial service institutions around the world.

The public review period for v1.5 of the IFX specification ends on December 19, 2003. Visit http://www.ifxforum.org to view, download, and comment on v1.5.

“With Version 1.5 we are extending IFX to allow it to be used as a core technology for the EFT industry,“ said William Bird, eFunds Senior Consultant, Vice-Chair of the IFX Architecture Committee and ATM/POS Workgroup member. “As an open technology, IFX promises to make interoperability between technologies and vendors simpler and cheaper. The involvement of many vendors in the EFT industry promises wide acceptance and product availability.”

“IFX Version 1.5 is the result of several years of implementation experience in various commercial and retail banking applications,” said Patrick Leathrum, MasterCard RPPS Technical Consultant and Chairman of the IFX Architecture Committee. “Version 1.5 contains enhanced functionality that improves implementation of IFX.”

Members and nonmembers alike are invited to attend the next face-to-face IFX Forum Meeting, to be held January 13-15 in Dallas, where IFX v1.5 will be presented to the Steering Committee for ratification, and work on the next version – 2.0 – will continue. To register for the IFX Forum meeting in Dallas, contact Tim Cochran at 703-970-2056 or info@ifxforum.org.

IFX Version 2.0 is slated to be an adaptation of the IFX infrastructure to support emerging standards. It will be designed to support Web Services standards and will include changes flowing from the International Standards Team Harmonization (ISTH) project.

“With the IFX v2.0 effort, we will be embarking on a significant effort to further adapt the standard to emerging technical and international developments,” said IFX Forum President Richard P. Urban. “As part of this effort, we specifically invite companies and individuals who have international payment requirements or are implementing service-oriented architectures to participate in building the next generation of the IFX standard. To facilitate international participation, we are planning to have future meetings in selected international locations.”

Enhancements to the IFX Business Message Specification for v1.5 include:

Check Acceptance messages to support check truncation
Foreign Exchange message enhancements to support non-account currencies
Additional notification support for advising interested parties of actions taken on their behalf
Improvements in support for recording contact information
EFT enhancements;

read only data and transaction auditability
support for a wider variety of acquiring devices
support for generic customer identification devices
support for customers identified by card number only
improved support for switching POS transactions
support for card verification algorithms
support for transaction approval tracking

Support for multiple documents associated with a payment

About the IFX Forum

The Interactive Financial Exchange (IFX) Forum is a non-profit standards-developing organization made up of leading financial institutions, service providers and software vendors. The IFX Forum's mission is to facilitate the development and maintenance of specifications and standards necessary for interoperable and interactive financial exchange.

Membership in the IFX Forum is open to anyone interested in contributing to the development of open financial standards that harness the power of XML. The IFX Forum is currently organized into the following Working Groups: ATM/POS; Business Banking; Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment; and Web Services. IFX Forum Working Groups, in concert with an Architecture Committee to coordinate their efforts, develop open Internet-compatible messages for all sectors of the financial services industry. To learn more about IFX Forum standards or the benefits of IFX Forum membership, please visit www.IFXForum.org.

For additional information:
email info@ifxforum.org
Phone: +1 (781) 876-8811
Fax: +1 (781) 224-1239