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Insights and Expertise

Redirected: "In many cases, these legacy systems have insufficient
memory to manage the additional code to integrate
Is that a product or an EMV PIN pad and EMV-specific logic necessary to
communicate with a payment processing host according
to EMV requirements," he said.
capability? Part 1 From special-purpose to future-ready

Months ahead of the Oct. 15, 2015, EMV liability shift
By Dale Laszig deadline, legacy manufacturers used the word "purpose-
built" to instill confidence in a new generation of equipment.
The term, which originated in the manufacturing sector,
hen my op-ed, "Is that a terminal or a refers to specialized devices designed to perform specific
PIN pad?" appeared in June 2014, in Issue tasks.
14:06:02 of The Green Sheet, hardware was in
W a state of flux. PIN pads were getting big- "Purpose-built machines (often called special purpose
ger, terminals were getting smaller and the U.S. market machinery) are custom-engineered equipment designed
was preparing to migrate to EMV technology. This was to perform a highly specific manufacturing, assembly,
a defining moment in payments, an opportunity for ISOs or operational task that off-the-shelf equipment cannot
and merchant level salespeople (MLSs) to help business handle," stated Peko Precision Products' website.
owners navigate a changing landscape that challenged
everything they knew about card-present transactions. Leading manufacturers promoted purpose-built, PCI-
Merchants and consumers had to adjust to new hardware DSS and EMVCo-certified payment card terminals and
configurations and replace habitual card-swiping habits PIN pads, intentionally designed to meet global security
with inserting and tapping credit cards at the point of standards and deliver secure, compliant and intelligent
sale. payment card processing.
There was also more fluidity in hardware design. A From off-the-shelf to hyper-personalized
countertop terminal, for example, could become a Terms like "purpose-built," "out-of-the-box" and "off-the-
peripheral when attached to a cash register that used its shelf" evoke a hardware-centric era, when consistently
display screen, card reader and modem. A tablet with viable products rolled off assembly lines. The original
a customer-facing display connected to a clerk-facing concept of smart POS involved a physical handshake
terminal or a mobile device communicating to a central between a chip card and chip reader, which was more
POS hub could also function as a peripheral to adjacent personalized than a magstripe card with easily duplicatable
devices and POS systems. track 1 and track 2 data. Today, smart products do more
than follow scripts; they ask customers what they need.
"As PIN pads get larger and terminals get smaller, it's
becoming difficult to tell them apart," I wrote. "Next In June 2026, TAZI AI Systems added the TAZI
generation hybrid devices can be used as PIN pads or Enterprise Agent to its line of ready-made AI agents.
terminals according to a merchant's needs." The conversational AI can be embedded in workplace
From dumb to smart environments to help companies protect data, optimize
revenue and mitigate risk, according to Zehra Cataltepe,
Understandably, these changes made merchants uneasy co-founder and CEO of TAZI AI.
about investing in POS systems. In addition to having a
general mistrust of first-generation machines, business "TAZI Enterprise Agent runs inside your own walls,
owners were concerned about hardware obsolescence, follows your own rules, on an AI engine you control," she
non-compliance penalties and the high cost of routine said, adding that the company offers other AIs focused
maintenance, all of which made equipment ROI an open on specific tasks, like preventing fraud or retaining and
question. Some shameful shenanigans were also going on attracting customers. Cataltepe further noted that because
at the time, such as deploying terminals with built-in smart each agent works with proprietary data, out-of-the-box and
card readers that were nothing more than empty slots and hyper-personalization aren't necessarily opposites, but
similarly designed PIN pads positioned as "EMV-ready" complementary parts of systems that learn and adapt over
out of the box. time. In this new paradigm, is the product an application
or capability? Part 2 will explore this question.
Paytech executive Andrey Tikhonov, who was chief
technology officer at Dejavoo in 2014 and currently serves Dale S. Laszig, content strategy director at The Green Sheet and founder
CEO at VeryPay, agreed some service providers were and CEO at DSL Direct, is a payments industry journalist, creator and
oversimplifying the extensive device and infrastructure consultant. Connect via email dale@dsldirectllc.com and LinkedIn
upgrades needed for a successful EMV migration.
linkedin.com/in/dalelaszig/.
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