The new book by the Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, associate professor of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology Takhmasib Dadashev "POS-Terminal Network Outsourcing" was published in Russian and English this summer.

This object of research of the scientist, which is the author of many scientific articles and books on information technology, became acquiring and work of the EFTPOS-terminal networks. In his book, Takhmasib Dadashev studied and described in detail the payment systems, the process of making transactions and ensuring their security, presented an overview of the most popular POS terminal devices on the market, studied the history of acquiring, described the prospects for its development for the next few years, and also compiled a glossary of basic concepts used in the acquiring business.

Particular attention in the book is paid to the TransLink.iQ software platform for managing EFTPOS terminals and routing transactions, developed by the Lithuanian company Ashburn International and successfully used by institutions of the banking sector around the world to improve operational efficiency and optimize costs associated with maintaining the operability of EFTPOS terminals.

The book is aimed at the payment solutions specialists, the bank and other financial industry institutions employees. It will also be of interest to all people who want to understand what a transaction is, how EFTPOS terminals work, what difficulties an acquiring business faces today and how to increase its profitability.

We spoke with the author about how the book was prepared.

Takhmasib, you managed to collect and systematize all the most relevant information about the operation of acquiring networks. However, the industry does not stand still. Do you think the book will be relevant in a few years?

I hope that in the next 2-3 years, changes in the industry will not be evolutionary. It means that the core of the book will remain relevant. But in the longer term, it is difficult to give such an assessment now.

Finance is a fairly confidential topic. What difficulties did you encounter in the process of studying the topic and writing the book?

It’s a good question. Indeed, it turned out that many of the key issues related to the book were not covered in the open press and on the Internet. Basically, they are disclosed in technical reports for internal (corporate) use. And what could be found in open sources is either outdated long ago or only indirectly related to the questions posed.

You have done a tremendous job, the book turned out to be very useful, as if a person was writing who is closely connected with many internal processes. How did you manage it?

I consider the book to be a collective work, prepared thanks to the knowledge and experience of the editorial board of the leading specialists of Ashburn International Žoržas Šarafanovičius, Ježi Mardosevič, and Kirill Ovsiannikov from BS/2. After the layout of the book was prepared, the aforementioned colleagues spent many hours in the online discussion mode to bring the book to its current form. I would also like to express my gratitude to the employee of the company, Tomas Šeikis, who introduced me to the world of EFTPOS terminals and gave me important advice at the initial stage of working on the book. As a result, the work on the book took almost 1.5 years.

Today, more and more owners of self-service devices are outsourcing their terminal fleets. What do you think is the reason for this?

To a large extent, this is dictated by the convenience of doing business in this area and the desire of self-service device owners to focus on the business itself, and not on its technical support.

What are the risks of outsourcing of acquiring networks and what new opportunities does it open for the owner of an EFTPOS terminal network?

This is a pretty broad topic, so I suggest you read Chapter 4 of the new book. I will give just one quote from the book: “… if some believe that for most financial organizations the functions of acquiring and processing are inseparable from purely banking functions, others, on the contrary, believe that these functions do not relate to the main banking activity.”

Tell us about your creative plans. What topic will be the subject of your next research?

I am currently doing Big Data analytics. This area is now developing rapidly, which will have a noticeable impact on both business and society as a whole. Once I wrote a dissertation on pattern recognition, and therefore, technological trends in this area are especially close to me.

Takhmasib Dadashev. POS-Terminal Network Outsourcing PDF >>