ACI Worldwide, a leading global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions, today announced that Ecentric Payments Systems, South Africa’s leading payment processor, has expanded its relationship with the company and will leverage ACI’s UP Merchant Payments to extend its capabilities with eCommerce payment and gift card solutions.

Ecentric, which has worked with ACI for more than 15 years to grow its South African footprint, processes more than 880 million transactions annually. Building upon this relationship, Ecentric has implemented service-oriented solution-architecture principles and design via ACI’s Universal Payments framework, which also supports ease of integration with other systems through flexible, open payment infrastructure.

“Consumers are demanding a connected retail experience and want merchants to offer multiple payment options across all channels in a consistent manner, and merchants want technology that is flexible and responsive to changing market needs across multiple geographies,” said Hassen Sheik, managing director, Ecentric. “ACI’s UP Merchant Payments solution enables us to offer true omni-channel payment processing both domestically and in the global markets where we operate. ACI and its powerful Universal Payments framework provides us the scalability we need to deliver the reliable network infrastructure that our clients demand.”

“As commerce becomes faster and increasingly digitized, innovative companies like Ecentric are turning to ACI to capitalize on the opportunities for growth,” added Manish Patel, general manager, Middle East, Africa and South Asia, ACI Worldwide. “The UP Merchant Payments solution ensures that Ecentric can deliver a consistent payment offering across its clients’ many channels, while maintaining the flexibility to adapt to the needs of each individual market.”