Kindle Fire Provides Mobile Banking Services to UPside Visa Prepaid Customers

NEW YORK – May 8, 2012 – DataArt, a custom software development firm that builds advanced solutions for select industries, today announced completion of a Kindle Fire mobile banking application for Plastyc, which provides UPside Visa cardholders with a complete range of banking services on-the-go. The latest addition to Plastyc’s mobile application is now available for Kindle Fire customers and can be downloaded from Amazon.

The new Kindle Fire application has been designed to optimize the tablets’ 7-inch screen resolution and provides a range of services for personal banking. These services include new account activation, signing up for direct deposit, redeeming cash back points, bill payment, funds transfers, issuing paper checks and  balance checking, transaction history. Users can also tap into MoneyPak retail locator searchable by zip code. Plastyc relied on DataArt to set the highest security standards for user information account protection and ensure encryption of all local data. Sophisticated password authentication and access safeguards installed for all purchases and spending transactions automatically logs out users after five minutes of inactivity.

“The new Kindle Fire app is a testament to DataArt’s expertise. DataArt has allowed us to extend the reach of the UPSide Visa app to our iPhone and Android customers and to provide the same high quality services to Kindle Fire owners,” said Patrice Peyret, CEO of Plastyc.

“As mobile banking flourishes, customers need to trust not only their device but the portal in which they share their sensitive information,” said Alexei Miller, Executive Vice President of DataArt. “Our work with creating rich and secure global applications for financial services deepens our understanding of evolving vulnerabilities, and helps us develop a greater degree of applications that support next generation banking strategies.”

The Kindle Fire app is the latest DataArt development project for Plastyc since 2006, including the back-end systems for Plastyc’s iBankUp prepaid card portal, mobile banking and payments platform and most recently its iOS and Android UPside Visa applications. DataArt’s mobile technologies team is well versed in mobile Web/HTML5 development and all modern mobile platforms including iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7&8, WebOS, BlackBerry OS and Symbian. The firm has created cutting-edge mobile apps for blue-chip brands, including auto makers, high-fashion houses, pharmaceutical companies, an airline and numerous digital media agencies.

The UPside Visa app for Kindle Fire is available immediately for free from Amazon.

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About DataArt:
DataArt (www.dataart.com) is a custom software development firm that builds advanced solutions for the financial services, healthcare, hospitality and other industries. Combining domain knowledge with offshore cost advantages and resource flexibility, DataArt develops industry-defining applications, helping clients optimize time-to-market and minimize software development risks in mission-critical systems. With an unrivaled talent pool of highly skilled software engineers in New York, London, Russia and Ukraine, DataArt provides the technical skill, accountability and industry knowledge needed to deliver custom applications on time and on budget.

DataArt clients include Standard &  Poor’s, Harmonic Fund Services, Ogilvy, artnet, Panasonic, Cancer Research, Ocado, Charles River Laboratories, Betfair, Misys, leading asset management firms and three of the world’s top ten investment banks. http://www.twitter.com/DataArt

About Plastyc, Inc.:  

Plastyc delivers good banking to all by providing 24×7 access to FDIC-insured accounts through any Internet-connected computer or cell phone. Unlike traditional checking accounts, Plastyc’s iBankUP portal and UPside Visa prepaid cards never incur overdrafts and offer better services at lower prices, with more ways to receive money and no risk of over-spending it. Plastyc is privately held with headquarters in New York City.
For more on Plastyc, visit www.plastyc.com.

Media Contacts:
Vica Vinogradova
+1-212-378-4108 x 4014
vica@dataart.com

Patrice Peyret
patrice.peyret@plastyc.com
1-646-485-5267

Laura Anderson
Articulate Communications
212.255.0080, ext. 11
dataart@articulatecomms.com

By John Younghusband

FX-MM magazine, which covers the latest developments in Capital Markets and finding as well as risk management and technology issues, places a bylined article by John Younghusband of DataArt, where he reflects on how technological developments have changed the face of FX trading.

As with the stock and commodity exchanges, where new technology has increasingly replaced the traditional open outcry market floors, in foreign exchange the old methodology of banks trading desk-to-desk via dedicated private voice circuits is gradually disappearing. Recent growth in program computer trading is the result of technological developments; a combination of greater computing power, lower telephony costs and “fibre to the kerb” provision for faster connectivity.

Significant volumes of FX trading are done entirely electronically. This change in trading methodology started with the launch of screen trading systems by the banks themselves, such as Deutsche Bank’s “Autobahn” and Barclays “BARX” in the late 1990s. This touched off an arms race in the industry which continues unabated with the emergence of a plethora of competing platforms, each boasting new features and technological advancements.

Original article:
http://www.fx-mm.com/?s=DataArt

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By Daniel Wolfe

In this exclusive story, American Banker magazine discusses the tablet app landscape in light of DataArt’s recent completion of a mobile banking Kindle Fire app for Plastyc, a prepaid card marketer, with commentary from Alexei Miller, Executive Vice President at DataArt and Patrice Peyret, CEO of Plastyc.

“The Kindle Fire isn’t as capable as the iPad and it isn’t as connected as a smartphone — but its mix of price and features makes it extremely well suited to serve the underbanked. Tablets like the iPad and the Kindle use variants of the iOS and Android software, which were originally designed for smartphones. These operating systems naturally lend themselves to a mobile experience, but WiFi tablets like the Kindle Fire aren’t replacements for phones, Peyret says — they’re replacements for desktop and laptop computers, even among the underbanked.

It’s easy to create an app for the Kindle Fire once a company already has an app for Android smartphones or tablets, says Alexei Miller, an executive vice president and partner at DataArt Solutions, the New York vendor that built Plastyc’s Kindle Fire app.

“Because the Kindle Fire is basically [using] a modified version of the Android [operating system], you wouldn’t believe how little of an effort it is to release a Kindle Fire application once you have an Android application,” Miller says. “It is remarkably inexpensive and not time-consuming at all.” And many programmers are already starting to think of the tablet space as being more than just the iPad ecosystem, Miller says. “They’re trying to ride the next wave, which is HTML5,” the latest version of the HTML markup language used for creating Web pages. Some companies’ iPad apps are just shells for an HTML5 application, which can be used on multiple devices. These companies “develop for an iPad but they do not develop an Apple app,” he says.”

original article

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Travel Daily News picked up the announcement of DataArt joining the OpenTravel Alliance.

“DataArt, a customer software development firm announced its membership to the OpenTravel Alliance – the standards body focused on the creation of electronic message structures to facilitate communication between the disparate systems in the global travel industry.
DataArt, along with existing Open Travel Alliance members, will collaborate to develop a flexible specification framework to improve suppliers and distributors’ communication channels, enhance productivity, and drive quality engagements for customers, partners, and industry affiliates. Recent work within travel and hospitality, specifically with client/partners VacationRoost and Digital Visitor has positioned DataArt as an experienced and trusted provider of distribution solutions to the travel industry.”

Original article

DataArt has worked extensively with implementing OpenTravel specifications and accompanies fellow organizations across travel, tourism and hospitality to identify solutions that meet electronic distribution supply chain challenges. Enterprises are currently facing operational barriers with an influx of disparate communication and data deliverly networks hampering exchanges across travel industry sectors. Members will collaborate to develop a flexible specification framework, improving suppliers and distributors’ communication channels, enhancing productivity, profitability and driving quality engagements for customers, partners and industry affiliates.

“We’re always pleased when respected technology providers join OpenTravel,” says Valyn Perini, CEO of OpenTravel. “Our main goal is to increase the relevance of our specification and extend its reach. DataArt can provide OpenTravel valuable input based on its client needs and implementation, while enhancing the value of our scheme to the travel industry at large.”

Recent work within travel and hospitality has positioned DataArt as an experienced and trusted provider of distribution solutions to the travel industry. In 2011, DataArt was selected as dedicated engineering partner to VacationRoost, a leading U.S.-based vacation rental and service provider with an online booking inventory of over 150,000 professionally managed vacation rentals, to expand its in-house technology efforts. This year, DataArt also worked with Digital Visitor, an award-winning social media agency, to complete its third-generation Visitor Review application, “VR3.”

“DataArt is committed to supporting the open standards community which is directly aligned with many of our travel industry clients’ interoperability needs,” said Greg Abbott, Senior Vice President of Travel and Hospitality at DataArt. “Along with our fellow members, we look forward to upholding the exchange model and assisting to forge open specifications and future methodologies.”

Custom Application Development Firm Aligns with Fellow Industry Leaders to Support Framework Specifications

NEW YORK – April 25, 2012 – DataArt, a custom software development firm that builds advanced solutions for select industries, today announces its membership in the OpenTravel Alliance, a travel industry standards body focused on the creation of electronic message structures to facilitate communication between the disparate systems in the global travel industry. The not-for-profit consortium is comprised of leading cross-industry global organizations advancing a unified structure for electronic transmissions beyond the current XML practices.

DataArt has worked extensively with implementing OpenTravel specifications and accompanies fellow organizations across travel, tourism and hospitality to identify solutions that meet electronic distribution supply chain challenges. Enterprises are currently facing operational barriers with an influx of disparate communication and data deliverly networks hampering exchanges across travel industry sectors. Members will collaborate to develop a flexible specification framework, improving suppliers and distributors’ communication channels, enhancing productivity, profitability and driving quality engagements for customers, partners and industry affiliates.

“We’re always pleased when respected technology providers join OpenTravel,” says Valyn Perini, CEO of OpenTravel. “Our main goal is to increase the relevance of our specification and extend its reach. DataArt can provide OpenTravel valuable input based on its client needs and implementation, while enhancing the value of our scheme to the travel industry at large.”

Recent work within travel and hospitality has positioned DataArt as an experienced and trusted provider of distribution solutions to the travel industry. In 2011, DataArt was selected as dedicated engineering partner to VacationRoost, a leading U.S.-based vacation rental and service provider with an online booking inventory of over 150,000 professionally managed vacation rentals, to expand its in-house technology efforts. This year, DataArt also worked with Digital Visitor, an award-winning social media agency, to complete its third-generation Visitor Review application, “VR3.”

“DataArt is committed to supporting the open standards community which is directly aligned with many of our travel industry clients’ interoperability needs,” said Greg Abbott, Senior Vice President of Travel and Hospitality at DataArt. “Along with our fellow members, we look forward to upholding the exchange model and assisting to forge open specifications and future methodologies.”

About DataArt:

DataArt (www.dataart.com) is a custom software development firm that builds advanced solutions for the financial services, healthcare, hospitality and other industries. Combining domain knowledge with offshore cost advantages and resource flexibility, DataArt develops industry-defining applications, helping clients optimize time-to-market and minimize software development risks in mission-critical systems. With an unrivaled talent pool of highly skilled software engineers in New York, London, Russia and Ukraine, DataArt provides the technical skill, accountability and industry knowledge needed to deliver custom applications on time and on budget.

DataArt clients include Standard & Poor’s, Harmonic Fund Services, Ogilvy, artnet, Panasonic, Cancer Research, Ocado, Charles River Laboratories, Betfair, Misys, leading asset management firms and three of the world’s top ten investment banks. http://www.twitter.com/DataArt.

About OpenTravel Alliance:

OpenTravel’s mission is to engineer specifications to ensure traveler and supplier information flow smoothly throughout travel, tourism and hospitality. OpenTravel creates, expands and drives adoption of open specifications, including but not limited to the use of XML, for the electronic exchange of business information among all sectors of the travel industry. OpenTravel is comprised of companies representing airlines, car rental firms, hotels, cruise lines, railways, leisure suppliers, service providers, tour operators, travel agencies, solutions providers, technology companies and distributors. Tens of thousands of OpenTravel message structures are in use, carrying tens of millions of messages between trading partners every day. To learn more about OpenTravel visit www.opentravel.org.

Media Contacts:
Vica Vinogradova
+1-212-378-4108 x. 4014
vica@dataart.com

Laura Anderson
Articulate Communications
212.255.0080, ext. 11
dataart@articulatecomms.com

By Denis Margolin

Denis Margolin, a Vice President of Mobile Solutions at DataArt, contributes a bylined article on intricacies of tablet user interfaces.

“Switching to the touch-enabled user interface (UI), the native user interface (NUI) is a drastically new paradigm. It wouldn’t be unfair to compare this situation to the early 1990s, when the industry switched to graphical UI from alphanumeric terminals… Tablets are still widely perceived as a toy and a fad. They require a totally different approach to UI, and the techniques transferred from the desktop simply don’t work. While these new approaches are still in the early development stages, the public is failing to recognize the potential of this new platform… As a vendor, we try to give usability advice in these contexts, but it’s harder to do compared to developing traditional desktop or Web-based software. There are no conventions or hard patterns to be reused. Therefore, our usability experts have to sit down and work out the UI almost from scratch each time.”

Original article

By Dmitry Yakovlev

Dmitry Yakovlev, Senior Vice President at DataArt, continues the conversation about Cloud computing, as he outlines major platforms and concepts, discusses cloud environments and applications, and shares advice for security strategies in the cloud. “There are four major cloud computing platforms available on the market today which should be known and understood in order to select the best option for which to execute secure custom applications within this arena: Amazon EC2, Windows Azure, Google App Engine and Force.com. Each of these platforms is a more or less successful attempt to commercialize internally-crafted virtualization technology… Combined with dramatically reduced up-front investments in hardware required for high-performance systems, cloud technologies create a lot of market opportunities for small companies and ventures.”

Full Article

By Jack M. Germain

Linux Insider turns to Atyom Astafurov, Senior Vice President at DataArt, to help decipher the future of the tablet market.

The release of Windows 8 will give Microsoft the chance to attack the tablet market that Android and Apple have basically owned for months. What effect with Windows 8 have on Android tablet sales? Will enterprises kick Android to the curb and scoop up Windows tablets by the fistful? Or is it too little, too late from Microsoft?

“In his dealings with Microsoft in discussing the Metro-driven tablet, Artyom Astafurov, senior vice president of DataArt, did not get much insight to how Redmond’s upcoming release would address the Android obstacle. His company is a custom software development firm that builds advanced solutions for select industries. He asked about how Microsoft was planning on competing against the Android market and claimed he did not get a response.

“I do not see consumers switching from their current devices to a Windows 8 device,” Astafurov told LinuxInsider. However, he said, the new devices will take market share from Android. From what he saw at the Consumer Electronics Show in January and what he is seeing now, Astafurov views Microsoft as taking its desktop OS and putting a tablet shell over it.
“It will probably increase their market share by attracting users who see the tablet as another form of a laptop PC in their briefcase,” he said.

But more so than just another tablet option, Astafurov sees Microsoft’s integrated tablet OS with its desktop platform as an attention-gaining approach that will change how enterprise adapts to tablets in the workplace. “As an app developer, I will have to jump through hoops to recompile my existing products to get them to run in both Windows environments. From my understanding, we will have to do much more tweaking in porting our apps from the Windows 7 phone to the Windows 8 tablet. That isn’t the way it is in integrating apps between the iPhone and the iPad or Android phones and tablets,” said Astafurov. The cost to vendors for doing this for Windows 8 tablets will be higher than what it costs them to work in the Android environment or iPad, for instance. Potentially, this can be a problem for Microsoft, he warned. “I can see some companies being sluggish in porting their apps to the Windows 8 tablet. This is especially likely given how slow the apps market for Windows Phone 7 is,” Astafurov said.”

(Original article)

NEW YORK – March 20, 2012 – DataArt, a custom software development firm that builds advanced solutions for select industries, today announced completion of mobile banking apps for Plastyc, which provide its UPside Visa cardholders with a complete range of banking services on-the-go. Starting today, Plastyc’s mobile apps can be downloaded from both, the Android Market and the Apple app store.

UPside Visa is Plastyc’s award-winning prepaid program offering a premium suite of affordable banking services tailored for the up-and-coming youth and underbanked markets. The new UPside Visa mobile apps developed for Plastyc by DataArt, allow a full range of personal banking services on a smart phone, from checking balances and reviewing transaction histories to activating a new account, signing up for direct deposit, redeeming cash back points, paying bills, transferring funds to friends and issuing paper checks.

“DataArt helped us deploy the most comprehensive mobile banking applications in the prepaid market, simultaneously on two technical platforms – Android and iOS – in record time,” said Patrice Peyret, CEO of Plastyc.

“We now have extended our platform capabilities to all three major software environments: Microsoft .Net, Google Android and Apple iOS, thanks to DataArt’s experienced teams”, added Justin Surman, CTO of Plastyc. “We were also able to address the specific security challenges of mobile applications by leveraging DataArt’s prior experience in developing software for large financial institutions.”

In addition to using their UPside card anywhere Visa debit is accepted, the apps let cardholders use their smartphones to manage accounts, load funds, pay online, send paper checks, send customer service requests or redeem cash back points.

“This was a remarkable project for DataArt, which required an unprecedented level of rich functionality and security technologies baked into a mobile financial app, all delivered in a very tight timeframe,” said Alexei Miller, Executive Vice President of DataArt. “We are grateful for Plastyc’s continued trust in DataArt and for their product and architecture leadership on this project.”

DataArt’s rapid prototyping enabled Plastyc to deliver multiple mobile banking services for its customers with superior security measures. The apps include the highest levels of security to protect account information. All local data is encrypted with the key stored on the server-side, so the cached data can’t be extracted even if the device is lost. Sensitive information such as full card numbers is never stored or transmitted to the device, and all server communications are protected and server’s SSL certificate thumbprint is verified to prevent any tampering attacks. The client authentication is implemented with best-in-class practices and protects applications from replay attacks. The apps require an additional password for all spending transactions. The user is logged out automatically after five minutes of inactivity.

DataArt has worked with Plastyc on a number of development projects since 2006, including the back-end systems for Plastyc’s iBankUp prepaid card portal and new mobile banking and payments platform.

DataArt’s mobile technologies team is well versed in mobile Web/HTML5 development and all modern mobile platforms including iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7 & 8, WebOS, RIM OS and Symbian. The firm has created cutting-edge mobile apps for blue-chip brands, including an auto maker, a high-fashion house, pharmaceutical companies, an airline and numerous digital media agencies.

About DataArt:

DataArt (www.dataart.com) is a custom software development firm that builds advanced solutions for the financial services, healthcare, hospitality and other industries. Combining domain knowledge with offshore cost advantages and resource flexibility, DataArt develops industry-defining applications, helping clients optimize time-to-market and minimize software development risks in mission-critical systems. With an unrivaled talent pool of highly skilled software engineers in New York, London, Russia and Ukraine, DataArt provides the technical skill, accountability and industry knowledge needed to deliver custom applications on time and on budget.

DataArt clients include Standard & Poor’s, Harmonic Fund Services, Ogilvy, artnet, Panasonic, Cancer Research, Ocado, Charles River Laboratories, Betfair, Misys, leading asset management firms and three of the world’s top ten investment banks. http://www.twitter.com/DataArt

Media Contacts:
Vica Vinogradova
+1-212-378-4108 x. 4014
vica@dataart.com

Patrice Peyret
patrice.peyret@plastyc.com
+1-646-485-5267