The Green Sheet Online Edition
July 7, 2009 • 09:07:02
Pocket-sized terminal
As mobile merchants proliferate, so do the portable card terminals they use in bouncing from one customer to the next. The way5000, a new terminal from POS solutions provider Way Systems Inc., has taken the portable trend up (or down) a notch by creating a device that fits in your pocket.
The terminal looks much like a cell phone, only with a small swipe piece attached.
It's smaller than standard portable terminals, noted Tim McWeeney, Vice President, North American Sales for Way Systems. "We've created a pocket-sized terminal - it literally fits in the merchant's pocket - and when they want to use it they just take it out, swipe the card, enter the data, run the transaction," he said.
Small, but capable
Despite its size, the device lacks nothing in capability. It loads credit, debit, gift card and check transactions, and includes a PIN pad for debit transactions, in keeping with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS). The device is fully PCI certified, McWeeney said.
The PIN pad is embedded in the front of the terminal - like the buttons on a cell phone - rather than "on a back pack on the back," as some terminals are configured, McWeeney said. He also said it's the "largest key pad we've ever manufactured," making the buttons relatively easy to push.
"Ergonomically, it's better in front of the device; it's easier for the merchant and the cardholder to use," he noted.
The device also includes an over-the-air feature that provides updates for such things as software and compliance upgrades. McWeeney said the over-the-air mechanism is triggered every time the terminal is switched on, asking "the user if it wants to check for updates or [alerting] the user that updates may be available.
"Then if the user then selects the download update, those come over the air." The updates are pulled from the Way Systems server.
"If there's a PCI security update, if there's a certification update from one of our customers they want pushed out to the terminal, if a merchant signs up for a check service and that check service was not originally embedded in the terminal, that would be pushed out on an over-the-air update," McWeeney said.
"Literally, any kind of update up to and including even merchant parameters - name, business name, address - those are things that, once completed in our Way Systems gateway that's pushed to the terminal, the merchant downloads the update and he's finished," he added.
Surge in mobile merchants
The Way5000 comes with a mobile, infrared printer. McWeeney said the product is targeted toward retailers, particularly the "4 million plus mobile merchants that are entering the market and are looking for an economical and pocket-sized solution." He added that retailers of all sizes are using the product.
"We have run into merchants that have fleets of drivers and service people - 25, 30, 50 trucks out there - that want a cost-effective way to accept credit cards," he said. "The reality is mobile merchants are growing at such a fast rate now that we're opening ourselves up to literally millions of new merchants coming into the market across all categories. But we are a perfect fit for anyone in a direct seller environment."
Way Systems Inc.
781-569-0414
www.waysystems.com
Whether you want to upgrade your POS offerings, find a payment gateway partner, bone up on fintech regs or PCI requirements, find an upcoming trade show, read about faster payments, or discover the latest innovations in merchant acquiring, The Green Sheet is the resource for you. Since 1983, we've helped empower and connect payments professionals, starting with the merchant level salespeople who bring tailored payment acceptance and digital commerce tools, along with a host of other business services to merchants across the globe. The Green Sheet Inc. is also a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals.
Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact information, links and other details may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.
