Three Cheers for 3G

Wireless POS terminals that allow retailers to authorize card payments in mobile environments have been around for awhile, but their benefits were often limited.

For retailers that do most or all of their sales in remote locations, available technology was frequently cumbersome to use, with lengthy authorization times. For merchants that had few mobile transactions, it was often difficult to justify the cost of purchasing mobile devices.

First Data recently launched the FD400, the first commercially available POS device that uses 3G technology. This will increase the ease of use and transaction speed for retailers already using mobile devices and, at the same time, should lower the cost of entry for first-time mobile retailers.

Many of the mobile devices in the market today are slow and difficult to bring up to higher security compliance requirements. The FD400 allows online downloads to make it easier to upgrade programming and improve security, and the 3G technology increases the speed at which data can flow in a mobile environment, resulting in faster authorizations.

“The added features from the FD400 will make trouble-shooting easier and increase the speed and convenience factors,” says Steve Mathison, vice president of POS terminal and hardware products for First Data.

For retailers that aren’t yet taking card transactions in a wireless manner, the device should lower the cost to get started. Some retailers have had to resort to the old paper-based methods of capturing card information in remote locations, which results in more costly card fees and increases risk. Additionally, such retailers could not accept debit cards or other payment instruments that require the use of a PIN pad.

A third category of retailers could open up for this device: retailers that operate in a traditional bricks-and-mortar environment and have adequate phone lines for most of their sales. These merchants could benefit from using a mobile device to facilitate payment in situations like sidewalk sales or special remote promotions, or as temporary sales counters during busy periods, like the holiday season.

Planning ahead
Because the device works on the 3G technology common to most advanced cell phones, it can be used to facilitate contactless payment through the phone. Although such platforms are in early pilot form today, many payment companies are planning for the day when customers will be able to store card payment data inside their cell phones: When they are ready to make a payment, they can point their phones at a POS terminal, and card data can be downloaded in a contactless manner.

“This device is capable of taking personal payment information from an iPhone or other personal device,” Mathison says. “It was designed with future payment options in mind. When the time comes, this line will be ready.”

Another attribute of the device is that it can operate on both the AT&T and Sprint networks. And, because T-Mobile works on the same technology as AT&T and the Verizon network works on the same system as Sprint, retailers using those carriers will be able to use the device, as well, Mathison says. StORES