This is revision 2.0 of the API/SPI specification for the Windows Open Services Architecture, Extensions for Financial Services (WOSA/XFS). The other relevant specifications are the service class specifications. These specifications are part of the Software Development Kit (SDK), which supplies the components and tools to allow the implementation of compliant applications and services. These specifications are distributed to the financial services community for continuing review and comment, to allow them to provide input to the ongoing enhancement of WOSA/XFS.
Release 2.0 extends the scope of WOSA/XFS to include both the self service/ATM environment as well as the branch environment. The new specification now fully supports cameras, deposit units, identification cards, PIN pads, sensors and indicator units, text terminals, cash dispenser modules and a wide variety of printing mechanisms.
The members of the Banking Solutions Vendor Council encourage banks and other financial service companies world-wide, as well as other technology suppliers, to get updated information on the status of the project, and to submit comments, questions and requests for the specification and SDK. This may be done via one of the council members or via the Microsoft web site :
www.microsoft.com/industry/bank.
The Banking Solutions Vendor Council is accepting applications for affiliate membership; interested parties should contact one of the council members or send email to bsvc@microsoft.com.
The Banking Solutions Vendor Council, an organisation of leading vendors of information technology to the financial services industry, was formally announced at the American Bankers Association National Operations and Automation Conference (NOAC) in Denver on May 18, 1992.
Revision 1.11 of the WOSA/XFS specifications was released on February 3, 1995. It includes the programmer’s reference specifications for the Application Programming Interface (API) and Service Provider Interface (SPI) and five service classes specifications: printers, magnetic stripe readers/writers, PIN pads, cash dispensers and check readers.
In October 1995, the BSVC established the self-service workgroup (SSWG) to define self-service specific enhancements to existing WOSA/XFS service class specifications and to develop new self-service specific WOSA/XFS service class specifications.
A new WOSA/XFS service class needs to be defined with a unique name in the configuration information and with a unique service identifier in its header file(s).
Rather than updating the API/SPI specifications each time a new service class is defined, the SSWG established that a new document should be developed that aggregates the unique values needed to define a service class. This document serves that purpose.
All explicit references to device or service classes have then been expurgated from revision 2.00 of the API/SPI specifications and replaced with references to this document.