July 30th, 2015 by Elma Jane
Converge Powers Potential 
Over the next several weeks, we’ll focus on a series of topics to hopefully provide a better understanding of the payment capabilities
Converge can bring you customers. In this article, we’ll zoom in on the card-present product enhancements of Converge first, including bringing EMV and mobile wallet capabilities to in-person payments, and ultimately VirtualMerchant Mobile later this year.
New Peripherals Added to Converge – Ingenico iSC250 and Star Micronics TSP650II Printer
Ingenico iSC250 Signature-Capture PIN Pad – is a signature-capture PIN pad offering the ability to accept PIN-based transactions, like debit card and Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), as well as EMV chip card and mobile wallet payments.
The iSC250 will initially ship EMV-capable meaning it’s physically configured with a slot to accept an EMV chip card, but it does not yet have the EMV application to process a chip card transaction.
A simple download process later in the year will allow customers to accept chip cards. The good news is customers can accept NFC contactless payments right away, including Apple Pay and Google Wallet.
Key features of the Ingenico iSC250 include:
- EMV-capable smart card reader to support EMV chip cards; EMV-enabled with a download later in the year
- NFC-enabled for contactless cards and Apple Pay and Google Wallet mobile wallets
- Magnetic stripe capture for all standard mag stripe cards
- Encryption technology to help secure cardholder data at point of entry and throughout the payment network
- Signature Area Display for signature capture with electronic stylus
- Bright color 4.3″ display and backlit key pad for ease of use
Star Micronics TSP650III:
In addition to the new iSC250PIN pad, a new USB printer were also added to the lineup of Converge supported peripherals, the Star Micronics TSP650II receipt printer. Now customers have two options for thermal receipt printing!
ConvergeConnect Makes Device Setup a Snap
A new peripheral and device management software called ConvergeConnect to make it easier for your customers to setup their devices quickly as well as add additional peripherals as their business needs grow. It will be the go-forward device management application, and we’ll be able to bring more and more EMV and NFC devices to market faster, giving our customers even more in-store payment processing options.
Legacy peripherals, like magnetic stripe card readers, check imagers and the Epson ReadyPrint T20 printer will continue to be managed using the Device Assistant.
Customers may have to use both ConvergeConnect and Device Assistant depending on their peripheral configuration.
A new Peripheral Device Installation and Setup Guide was developed to help customers install and manage their peripherals for both applications.
Converge Mobile with EMV on the Horizon
Work continues on the new VirtualMerchant Mobile app to be branded as Converge Mobile, and releasing the Ingenico iCMP in the third quarter. The Ingenico iCMP accepts EMV and NFC transactions, including contactless cards and mobile wallets, like Apple Pay. Stay tuned as more information becomes available.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Reader Terminal, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Mobile Payments, Near Field Communication Tagged with: card-present product, cardholder, chip card, contactless payments, data, debit card, EBT, Electronic Benefit Transfer, EMV, mag stripe cards, mobile wallet, nfc, NFC transactions, payment network, payments, PIN pad, PIN-based transactions, smart card reader, VirtualMerchant Mobile
June 5th, 2014 by Elma Jane
The days of salespeople peddling point of sale terminals by simply pulling hardware out of a box are numbered. That model is being replaced by integrated payments from software developers who add payment capabilities to applications that run at the point of sale, in the back office or on mobile devices.
Integrated payments are becoming common in the restaurant industry, where systems are developed to combine payment acceptance with the ability to manage orders, tables and food delivery. As integrated payments become more common, companies working in the payments industry will seek ways to offer marketing analytics. You tie that type of data to the payment mechanism and you can learn more about your business and your customers.
There is a place in the ecosystem for traditional payment acceptance, but today, when a retailer shops for a point of sale terminal or other business solutions, they expect payments to be part of the integrated bundle. Many of these systems are now delivered in a software-as-a-service model or through tablets, making them cost-effective for businesses of any size.
Integrated commerce includes mobile acceptance, offers, coupons and loyalty. It enables a merchant to buy a point of sale system for the physical store, website and mobile environment at the same time. Then the merchant can send out offers and begin running a loyalty program, while accepting NFC transactions all at once. Merchants can also review transactions from all channels directly from their offices to monitor against data breaches. With those integrated services becoming more readily available for merchants, it is not surprising that the topic comes up when executives discuss their company’s goals.
Relationships with merchants through integrated payments tend to be sticky because it is an embedded solution. You tend to get better pricing because it’s not necessarily an acquiring decision but a POS software/hardware decision and acquiring is part of that package. Payments as a service will be an important global product, selling a terminal now means selling data security, warranty and service, and numerous merchant tools.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Reader Terminal, Point of Sale Tagged with: breaches, coupons and loyalty, data, data breaches, data security, global product, integrated bundle, Integrated commerce, integrated payments, integrated services, loyalty program, marketing analytics, merchant, merchant tools, mobile, Mobile Devices, NFC transactions, payment, payment mechanism, payments industry, point of sale, POS software/hardware, Security, tablets, terminal, terminals, traditional payment, warranty and service, website and mobile environment
