PMT’s Latest Article Featured in the Africa Outlook Magazine!
As the CEO of Pattern Matched Technologies™ (PMT™) for the last 15 years, Markus Schorn(MS) has had the privilege to be part of creating and morphing the vision of the company.
“In the case of PMT™, the common vision and mission has been incredibly consistent – that through the careful and ethical use of technology, the lives of billions of people can be irrevocably improved,” he opens.
The idea of financial inclusion has been bandied about for decades when looking at any developing country. Even South Africa was seen in this light in terms of banking its citizens and enabling ecosystems that empower individuals to create and accelerate their capacity to originate and consume financial instruments and services, including transactional accounts and more meaningful use of their mobile devices.
As a long-time technology originator, the mission of PMT’™ was always to create and build opportunities by innovating in the valuable intersection between the mobile and financial sectors, empowering people in their own journey to financial and identity upliftment.
“PMT™ has striven to put the consumer first, often taking industry stands to partner with large players such as mobile network operators and banks, and in so doing, driving down the costs of using the technology as well as bearers such as mobile-originated data and transaction fees” – MS
Being one of the first in South Africa to launch commercial unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) services over 20 years ago, PMT™ has enabled millions of consumers to gain access to legacy environments such as banking and retail institutions, to name just two.
PMT™ pioneers solutions in African markets such as mobile-linked wallets, prepaid services, and other electronic switching services such as cross-border remittance, debit card switching, and many more.
The company likewise continues to innovate in mobile network operator
(MNO) service delivery, such as with the launch of the Obsidian™ Service Connectivity Platform (Obsidian™), a pioneering operator-grade product for standard-rated, zero-rated, and reverse-billed mobile data in app and website applications.
PM T™ also delivers innovative
African solutions that significantly contribute to building financial identity transactability for the continent, and is well on the way to serving one billion people in sectors such as MNOs, financial services, national retailers, and many more in countries across the African continent and beyond.
MANAGING GROWTH
Henning Viljeon (HV), Managing Director, adds that “PMT™ has been a pioneer for services such as reverse billed (sponsored) USSD since 2011, Push USSD and sim securitisation since 2013, and reverse billed data
URLs since 2014.
“In 2020, PMT™ substantially invested in creating our solution envisioned in 2017 to solve for fundamental identified features not catered for through traditional reverse billing solutions. Thus, Obsidian™ was
born, offering a more enriched and secure reverse billing and zero-rating data service.”
Obsidian™ is mobile operator agnostic, built on AWS and cloud-hosted components. As a result, it provides and facilitates the enablement of reverse billed URL services across all MNOs and various aggregated service providers across multiple territories as a service connectivity platform.
Alongside its trusted service offerings, Obsidian™ is an enterprise core-grade service offering positioned for enterprise banking, MNOs, Internet of Things (loT) operators, and cloud-scale service providers.
Combined with the company’s secure messaging and sim securitisation service, Obsidian™ is perfectly positioned by design to solve real-world challenges, enabling an enterprise to add an extra layer of security and authentication to the transaction through mechanisms such as device lockdowns and secure notifications, deterring fraudsters from targeting customers using their trusted digital channels.
“The sim securitisation and verification (SSV) service was born out of our passion for solving real-world problems and providing solutions that change people’s lives through technology.” – HV
EMPOWERING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
OBSIDIAN™ AND EMERALD™ PLATFORMS
PMT’™ stands at the forefront of digital innovation, offering cutting-edge solutions to address evolving challenges in today’s dynamic landscape. Pieter Janse van Rensburg, CTO of PMT’™, delves into the key components that make PMT™ a trusted partner in safeguarding and empowering cloud environments. URLs since 2014.
“Central to the mission of PMT™ are two flagship platforms: Obsidian™ and Emerald’, both powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), delivering unparalleled security, scalability, and reliability to clients across Africa,” he states.
Obsidian™ represents the company’s commitment to providing a secure and reliable service connectivity platform.
Built on AWS, Obsidian™ gives enterprises a comprehensive solution for managing and deploying digital services with confidence, offering scaling models with the capability to process and securitise unlimited amounts of data.
With features such as real-time integration and robust security measures, Obsidian ™ empowers organisations to streamline operations and enhance customer experiences.
One of the standout features of Obsidian™ is its ability to detect and prevent fraudulent activities, thanks to seamless integration with the PMT™ SSV service.
By leveraging AWS’ advanced security capabilities, Obsidian™ provides clients with peace of mind, knowing that their digital assets are protected against threats like SIM swaps, phishing, and unauthorised access.
EMERALD™: REVOLUTIONISING VALUE-ADDED SERVICE DISTRIBUTION
Complementing Obsidian™ is Emerald™, a real-time value-added service distribution platform.
“With billions of transactions processed for banks and mobile te/cos, Emerald ™ has become synonymous with reliability and efficiency.” – PJVR
Now, PMT™ is taking Emerald™ to new heights by migrating it to the AWS cloud to expand its reach and capabilities.
As Emerald™ transitions to the cloud, clients can expect enhanced scalability, agility, and security. Leveraging AWS’ global infrastructure, Emerald™ will offer unparalleled uptime and performance, ensuring seamless service delivery even in the most demanding environments.
Additionally, AWS’ comprehensive security features will fortify Emerald’™ against emerging threats, safeguarding sensitive data and transactions.
SECURITY AT THE CORE
At the heart of PMT™ and its platforms lies a steadfast commitment to security. With AWS’ robust security infrastructure, PMT™ can uphold the highest standards of data protection and compliance, earning the trust of clients and partners alike. From real-time fraud detection to secure data transmission, Obsidian™ and Emerald™ leverage AWS’
“Compliance, privacy, and adherence to best practices are non-negotiable” – PJVR
LOOKING AHEAD
As PMT™ continues its journey of digital transformation, the future looks brighter than ever. With Obsidian™ and Emerald™ leading the charge, PMT™ is poised to redefine the way enterprises connect with their customers and deliver value-added services. By harnessing the power of AWS and its robust infrastructure, scalability, and global network, PMT™ is paving the way for a more secure, scalable, and innovative digital ecosystem in Africa and beyond.
“Obsidian™ can scale to limited instances with the capability to process and securitise unlimited amounts of data” – PJVR
First Distribution (FD) has been a key player in the development of Obsidian™.
PMT™ has been working with AWS since 2015. Around the middle of 2020, the company realised it would gain a lot of added value from working with a local distributor. Thus, the partnership with FD was born.
As an AWS distributor and registered AWS partner, FD brings its expertise to the table, understanding the key products and services utilised by PMT™. This collaborative partnership leverages FD’s expertise to validate design decisions and conduct well-architected reviews for all AWS initiatives undertaken by PMT™.
As FD works with AWS and other partners, PMT™ gains access to more resources and a greater knowledge pool. FD has helped PMT™ to build out on the AWS technology to it can support clients with longer-lasting and better technology, providing scalability and longevity.
Read this full Article featured in the Africa Outlook Magazine!
