Point Of Sale, Payment Processing And Data Collection News From March 2015
By The Business Solutions Network
Each month, Business Solutions reports news on business in the channel. This month in point of sale, payment processing and data collection news, Ingenico Mobile Solutions launches a new near-field communication (NFC) mobile payments device, BlueStar enhances logistics to serve North American resellers, NCR Connected Payments achieves PCI DSS 3.0, ScanSource announces a POS-as-a-Service bundle and a cloud services program, and NMI launches a payment enablement platform for VARs and ISVs.
Ingenico Mobile Solutions Launches New NFC Mobile Payments Device
Ingenico Mobile Solutions recently unveiled the RP170c, an audio jack-based NFC/contactless mobile card acceptance solution with support for Apple Pay, MasterCard contactless, and Visa payWave. The unit gives small merchants a future-proof solution for contactless payment acceptance by providing support for both mag-stripe contactless and EMV contactless cards.
The RP170c is fully compatible with the Ingenico Mobile Solutions mCommerce platform including its mPOS application, management portals, and gateway to instantly accept all of the latest NFC payment methods — including Apple Pay — as well as all Visa and MasterCard contactless cards, whether they are EMV or mag-stripe. As with any mPOS solutions deployed by Ingenico Mobile Solutions, the RP170c can be white labeled for merchants or channel partners reselling the unit.
BlueStar Enhances Logistics Services To North American Resellers
BlueStar announced its plans to enhance warehouse and logistic services to thousands of resellers across North America. In conjunction with a North American unified partnership with FedEx, and the elevation of warehouse operations, BlueStar will provide upgraded delivery and integration services for its U.S. and Canadian partners.
“This project will have the most positive impact on our Canadian solution providers,” stated Jacques Lapierre, president of BlueStar Canada. “We will move our new ‘order cut-off time’ to 8:00 pm EST, which is a substantial increase. If we receive an order by 8:00 pm EST, we will ship the order same day.” With the integration of the new FedEx partnership and customized logistic schedules, BlueStar will be able to cut delivery times to western and central Canadian Resellers by one to two days.
Included in this project, BlueStar will realign warehouse operations in North America, which will expand the number of product lines available to the Canadian resellers by 15 percent, and increase warehouse operations to a full 24-hour day. In addition, resellers will be able to take advantage of BlueStar’s newly redesigned integration and custom configuration center located at the North American main warehouse in Hebron, KY.
NCR Connected Payments Achieves PCI DSS 3.0
NCR recently announced that its payment security solution, NCR Connected Payments, has achieved PCI DSS 3.0 certification, nearly one year ahead of the required deadline for North America. The PCI DSS 2.0 specification is set to expire at the end of 2015. NCR completed its 3.0 certification early based on demand from its retail customers in order to ensure the latest specifications and best-in-class security standards are incorporated into the solution. The new PCI standard provides increased details and requirements around cardholder data flows, system components inventory, protection from tampering or substitution for POS terminals, and service provider management and responsibility.
ScanSource Announces POS-as-a-Service Bundle, Cloud Services Program
At its recently held partner conference, ScanSource announced a POS System-as-a-Service bundle that includes vendors APG Cash Drawer, Epson, and Pioneer POS. This is another step toward the recurring revenue model becoming more widespread in the retail IT channel.
The company also recently announced the creation of ScanSource Cloud Services through its ScanSource Services Group. The cloud program enables resellers to broaden their solutions offering with the addition of cloud applications and services. Through the program, resellers can also be more efficient in their offerings, as they can access cloud applications, solutions, and support from one source.
With ScanSource Cloud Services, resellers can obtain solutions from multiple vendors, cloud product support, education and training opportunities, as well as marketing services to help them promote their portfolio of solutions. The program includes cloud solutions from ScanSource’s hardware partners, as well as complementary, cloud-only vendors.
Products and services provided by ScanSource Cloud Services include carrier; SIP Trunks and bandwidth to connect phones and move data; hosted PBX phone systems; data centers to provide backup disaster recovery and virtual server hosting; hosted Microsoft Office, Lync, and Exchange applications; and customer loyalty solutions.
NMI Launches Payments Enablement Platform For VARs, ISVs
NMI, a provider of e-commerce payment gateway technology for independent sales organizations (ISOs), today announced the expansion of its payments enablement platform for the VAR and ISV markets. NMI’s payments enablement platform technology allows Web and mobile application developers, shopping carts, domain registrars, hosting providers, and customer relationship management (CRM) solutions or any e-commerce solutions providers to offer their own branded payment gateway services as part of their product and services offerings.
“Our payments enablement platform enables ISOs, VARs, and ISVs to offer their own branded payment gateway, while meeting the payment processing needs of their merchant customers,” says Roy Banks, CEO for NMI. “They gain relationship control to enhance customer experience and brand equity. Plus, they own more of the revenue opportunity without having to worry about third-party competition.”
Unlike white-label offerings, NMI provides more than the ability to simply insert a logo and co-brand. NMI’s payments enablement platform offers three levels of branding, the flexibility and option to bill for payment gateway services, a host of value-added services, and first-level customer support.