Card Establishment Services Inc., one of the top three providers of transaction services to retail merchants, has begun offering a new wireless point of sale terminal.
The POS-50 terminal, manufactured by U.S. Wireless Data Inc. of Boulder, Colo., uses cellular technology to obtain on-line electronic authorizations for card transactions.
The terminal allows merchants to minimize the risk of accepting credit cards even in locations where there are no electrical outlets or phone lines.
Executives at CES say businesses like home or auto repair, concession stands, special event set-ups, home delivery services, towing services, fund-raisers, outdoor sporting events, and trade shows are among the potential candidates for the product, which U.S. Wireless patented and put on the market last year.
"In the past, payment options for these markets were traditionally cash or check," said Michele Glover, retail industry product manager for CES. "Now these merchants can offer the convenience of payment by credit card and enjoy the security of on-line verification as well."
CES has been looking into on-line options for these merchants for some time.
"We weren't able to find a cohesive, well-put-together product at the right price before," said Ms. Glover. "The POS-50, however, is easy to support, with no mixing and matching of parts. It's rugged; it's a guaranteed solution."
The POS-50 is a rechargeable battery-operated unit that allows complete voice and data communications using cellular technology. It can process 70 to 100 transactions per battery charge. It may also be powered using a DC adapter and a car cigarette lighter.
When power and normal telephone lines are available, the unit operates as a standard point of sale device.
CES, based in Melville, N.Y., views itself as a value-added reseller of the POS-50 terminal. It will be packaging the product together with its other merchant services, like credit and check authorization, funding, and merchant processing.
U.S. Wireless is working with CES and other independent sales organizations to add debit card capability to the POS-50 terminal.
Ms. Glover said that several CES merchant customers are already using the POS-50. The full rollout of the product by CES is planned for next month.
In a separate announcement, CES said it has begun to accept purchasing cards from employees of corporate customers for items such as office supplies and equipment.
CES, jumping on a bandwagon launched by the major credit card associations, cited corporate studies indicating that purchasing card programs could reduce internal purchasing costs by up to 70%.
"American businesses process over $300 billion worth of small business- to-business purchasing transactions," said Pat Ludwig, CES senior vice president of marketing and communications. "The purchasing card allows companies to streamline the purchasing process."
The initiative comes two months after First Data Corp. of Hackensack, N.J., owner of the world's largest bank card processor, reached an agreement to acquire CES. The acquisition should be completed by the end of March.
There is no relationship between the acquisition and the institution of the purchasing program, which officials said had been planned since June 1994.
CES has established multiple product platforms for purchasing card acceptance. Its terminal option, using a Verifone device, handles purchasing cards as well as all credit and debit cards.
A host-to-host platform handles heavier transaction volumes and requires a leased connection to Cardnet, CES' transaction processing network.
Personal-computer options range from a pop-up window with suppliers' order-entry billing systems to a separate PC alongside the system.
The processor's PC options, which facilitate purchasing cards as well as all credit and debit cards, can operate both in stand-alone environments and local area networks.
CES handles the payment processing needs of more than 127,000 businesses and financial institutions, representing more than 205,000 outlets nationwide.
