The French payment terminal company Ingenico SA has introduced a device that includes both business software and payment acceptance.
The company is calling its iPA280 wireless POS terminal, announced Wednesday, a payment personal digital assistant.
The iPA280 has a PIN pad and can accept standard magnetic-stripe payment cards, smart cards and contactless cards.
Chris Justice, the president of the company's North American unit, said Ingenico is encouraging third-party developers to create applications for the device; it also has a color, touch-sensitive screen and keyboard and uses the Windows CE mobile operating system.
With the appropriate software, for example, merchants could use the device to accept tableside orders at restaurants and payment for meals, Justice said, and scan U.S. driver's licenses to verify ages.
The device is available now in six countries on three continents, but Justice would not identify them because third-party developers are working on applications and they want exclusivity in those regions.
Ingenico plans to sell the device directly to large retailers and financial companies and to independent sales organizations and POS-equipment distributors in the United States.
