ISO 8583 and its growing importance in today’s business

Any transaction that is performed by a credit/debit card or via an ATM is sent using the ISO 8583 format. A transaction may pass through multiple systems/companies/countries in its lifecycle but the format of the data remains the same.

These are the versions to the standard that are supported in Transformer:

  • 1987
  • 1993

Transformer also supports the UK Faster Payment Service

Each ISO 8583 message holds pertinent transaction information such as type of transaction, card details, merchant name, issuing bank, applicable variant etc.

It will also carry an indexing technique or ‘bitmap’ with it which will show which of the data elements are present. Each application involved in the transaction’s lifecycle will need to read this bitmap in order to process the message. In addition, any field level validation must be performed ‘on the fly’ as it will depend on the bitmaps contents. 

We strongly believe that Transformer is the best strategic solution for dealing with this complex message type.

The most complete description of the standard 

Transformer’s library captures every detail of each ISO 8583 variant (and UK FPS) down to a sub-field level and presents it in a business-friendly way. It is available for immediate deployment – ideal for real world project needs.

Interpretation of the bitmap is built into the library, so when an ISO 8583 message is presented to Transformer it will immediately show the user which fields are relevant via the GUI and apply the relevant field level validation which applies for that particular message.

Trace appreciates that the use of these message formats is often subject to bilateral variation and redefinition and as with all of our products the library can be tailored to specific needs if required. We have found this is particularly useful when dealing with the UK FPS.

Having such a strong yet flexible representation of the data format will give you a real head start in meeting your business objectives.

Transformer offers a fast, code-free approach to building solutions

Transformer dramatically shortens the time taken to build solutions involving complex standards.

The analyst using Transformer creates solutions directly in the intuitive Design-Time GUI. There is no coding stage, even when the required data transformation is highly complex. Projects remain clearly articulated and easy to maintain, and removing the old-fashioned ‘spec handover’ from analyst to developer eliminates a major source of risk and delay.

Users create mappings very easily in Transformer. For example, copying a field from the source to the target message just takes a simple ‘drag and drop’ action – Transformer automatically takes care of any reformatting required between the source and target syntax. To handle more complex mappings, Transformer provides a huge range of ready-made ‘mapping action’ building blocks. These can include conditions, which can in turn be combined into complex logic.  Even mappings that use complex standards such as the ISO 8583 format can be created at lightning pace.

You can also run a test on each new ‘line’ of a mapping or validation as soon as it has been added, moving the testing process as far upstream as possible, and ensuring high quality from the very start. Transformer also provides powerful regression testing facilities to help ensure that future standards changes do not adversely impact existing solutions.

The full range of Transformer features can be explored here

Transformer is the strategic answer to ISO 8583

All of these resources combine to ensure that Transformer the most powerful way to handle advanced standards such as ISO 8583 and enable projects to build solutions that are delivered fast to a high quality, and which stay maintainable in the longer term.

To find out more or arrange a demonstration either online or in your office, please contact us