Product: Perwave
Company: Harbotouch
In the ever-changing payments world, terminals seem to become obsolete almost over night. Mobile payments are beginning to experience a larger consumer acceptance and Europay/MasterCard/Visa (EMV) is migrating to the United States.
Yet, no one payment method has been adopted. Near field communication (NFC) is prevalent, but is not included in Apple Inc. devices, Starbucks now accepts payments via a bar code and some companies are developing payment methods around quick response (QR) codes. Merchants currently need to worry about turning away business because they do not have equipment to support the latest payment options. Additionally, Visa Inc., MasterCard Worldwide, Discover Financial Services and American Express Co. set deadlines for migration to EMV-enabled credit card readers due to the benefits of added security. Merchants that cannot accept EMV payments will face increased liability for data breaches and chargebacks.
So how do you assist your merchants in keeping up with these new demands? One solution may be Harbortouch's recently unveiled "future-proof" payment terminal, Perkwave, which enables merchants to accept the latest smart card and mobile payment technologies.
In addition to standard credit and debit card acceptance, this integrated solution supports the most common new payment methods, as it features an EMV-enabled credit card terminal integrated with a customer-facing NFC reader, Harbortouch stated. The company noted that NFC technology provides consumers the ability to tap their smartphones at the POS to make payments seamlessly with a mobile payment solution. Investment from large companies is driving the expansion of NFC-enabled phones. Growing demand from consumers who want a simple electronic payment solution is also a driver for NFC and other new technologies.
Although NFC is the frontrunner in mobile payment strategies, analysts predict that more than one method will be adopted. The Perkwave terminal can be updated remotely to support additional payment methods in the future and also includes a proprietary feature that allows Harbortouch to monitor terminal up-time, automatically alerting the company's technical support department if a terminal experiences any issues in the field.
Harbortouch pointed out that this feature enables the company to proactively resolve issues – in some cases before the merchant is even aware of the problem. The terminal also includes the ability for customers to receive electronic receipts sent directly to their email addresses.
Features of the Perkwave terminal include:
Harbortouch Chief Executive Officer Jared Isaacman stated, "As smart cards and mobile payment technologies like NFC become more widely adopted, it's critical for businesses to be able to accept these payment types. We incorporated the most prevalent of these payment technologies into Perkwave so our merchants will never have to turn a customer away due to not being able to accept their preferred form of payment. It's truly a future-proof payment acceptance solution." 
The Green Sheet Inc. is now a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals. Click here for more information.
Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact names or information may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.
Prev Next
