NZ retailers enjoy wireless EFTPOS
VeriFone Omni wireless point of sale (POS) terminals are now certified and operational with multi-application wireless POS which allows merchants to process debit and credit transactions, and transactions using a number of private label cards.
Denis Calvert, vice president VeriFone Asia Pacific region, said "VeriFone's wireless point-of-sale solution extends the convenience and security of electronic payments to market segments that traditionally were excluded, while reducing fraud.
"With the introduction of this terminal our customer, Paymark EFTPOS, can extend the reach of payments and boost merchant acceptance," Calvert added.
VeriFone and Tech Trans (NZ) Limited has developed and certified the Omni Wireless terminal and application software to provide connectivity to ETSL over Telecom New Zealand's wireless CDMA network.
ETSL operates the Paymark EFTPOS network on behalf of its shareholders -- ASB Bank, Bank of New Zealand, The National Bank and Westpac.
IDC senior analyst for mobile and wireless solutions Warren Chaisatien is confident that if it's available in New Zealand, it won't take long before Australia adopts it as well.
However, Chaisatien believes that although the technology is "not cutting edge" it will take some time before Australia could integrate it into the system because of the cost.
"It's hard to predict when exactly it can be adopted here but probably within the next 12 months. If New Zealand can do it then Australia can do it very soon," he said.
"I think the problem is that today if you are a part of a business and you want to use this technology, you have to pay extra. What I've noticed here is that you can't use Eftpos if it's below $15 because the cost of the process is high. The cost will be a great inhibitor here and the carriers will have to look into how they can accommodate that in order for this kind of technology to take off," Chaisatien said.
The portable wireless terminal comes with a triple track magnetic stripe card reader, EMV smart card reader, internal PINpad, and integrated printer which can accommodate a full range of payment and value-added applications.
It meets all specifications required for EMV standards, and meets regional requirements for Triple DES (3DES) and PIN entry device (PED) security as required by the card associations.
Chaisatien believes that the technology is very secure and will be very beneficial to retailers.
"I think it is very secure -- it will boost consumers' confidence more than anything else."