TSYS announced today that its Output Services division has earned a two-year certification from MasterCard’s Card Quality Management program.

The TSYS Card Shop began manufacturing chip cards in April 2015.This entry into chip card manufacturing introduced an obligation to meet certain quality standards mandated by MasterCard. Specifically, MasterCard has established a proprietary Card Quality Management program aligned with International Organization for Standardization methodologies. The CQM requirements help ensure that people, processes and technologies involved in the card supply chain offer consistent, sustainable and reliable manufacturing and quality processes.

MasterCard mandated that card manufacturers of MasterCard-branded chip cards obtain independent validation of their compliance with CQM which TSYS completed in July as part of a 2-day audit. MasterCard outsourced the vetting process to Smart Consulting, which has only seven approved independent CQM assessors worldwide.

TSYS was audited in three areas:

- Quality Management System – Overall quality policy and objectives across areas such as product design and development, purchasing, production and quality measurements.

- Card Body – The construction of payment cards related to quality, manufacturing processes, components and resistance to damage.

- Integrated Circuit Card – The quality of integrated circuit modules related to their resistance to damage, functionality and proper placement on the payment card.
Although CQM is specific to MasterCard, TSYS elected to implement the requirements for its entire chip card manufacturing process.

“This was a monumental task,” said Blake Barker, group executive of Output Services, TSYS. “We received official notification of the CQM mandated requirement in February, and we worked relentlessly since late February to prepare for the audit/certification. This required great teamwork and long hours, and it is an excellent example of a group pulling together to excel.”