New Standards for Payment Acceptance

A five-year agreement to develop, manufacture and supply a new generation of electronic funds transfer/point-of-sale terminals was reached recently by Ingenico Corp. and First Data Corp.

While terms of the agreement were not disclosed, it brings together two global leaders in payment services and technology, combining experience, perspective and areas of focus in one EFT/POS solution.

Officials for both companies expect the relationship to create a new standard for payment acceptance and value-added service delivery at the point-of-sale.

Plans for the first-of-its-kind terminal include building flexibility into it for adding future applications. The EFT/POS terminal will incorporate both present and future First Data subsidiaries' requirements for providing transaction services at the point-of-sale.

The terminals will be smart card-enabled and signature capture-enabled and will have the capacity to accept virtually all forms of payments.

Using this jointly developed technology, First Data subsidiaries, including Western Union and First Data Merchant Services, will be able to further reduce costs, hardware requirements and training time as well as free up retail counter space for their merchants with the new terminals.

Jean Jacques Poutrel, Chairman of Ingenico Corp. and Chairman and CEO of Ingenico S.A., said, "Our agreement with First Data is an acknowledgement of Ingenico's global leadership in payment terminal technology and clearly demonstrates Ingenico's total commitment to the North American market."

"Our relationship with Ingenico creates the solid base of technological and industry expertise we need to make this project a success," said Michael Yerington, President of Western Union America.

"The resulting terminal will address the needs of First Data subsidiaries, enabling us to improve payment and service delivery efficiency while greatly improving our ability to cross-sell services, resulting in a stronger brand identity and increased profitability. This device will be a powerful addition to an already robust product line."

The terminals will feature a single, easy-to-use interface to support a wide range of First Data products and services, for many types of clients and businesses.

Around the world, First Data Corp. provides approximately 2.6 million merchant locations, 1,400 card issuers and millions of consumers with a full spectrum of electronic commerce and payment services.

These include credit, debit, smart card and stored value card-issuing and transaction services, Western Union money orders and transfers, and check processing and verification services in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. The company, headquartered in Denver, has 28,000 employees worldwide.

Ingenico Corp. is the North American division of the global provider of smart card transaction products and systems in 70 countries, Ingenico S.A. Ingenico Corp. provides hardware, software, services and solutions for the growing transaction needs of the North American marketplace.