TaxiEpay, a unit of the Australian payments company Live Group, has begun deploying more than 3,500 Hypercom Corp. terminals to support a new payment card-acceptance system for taxis in Sydney and Melbourne.
Hypercom said last week that TaxiEpay should complete the project in six to 12 months, using its M4230 terminals, which rely on wireless telecommunications to connect to transaction processors.
The terminals are part of a system that TaxiEpay developed to make it easier for passengers to pay fares using payment cards. Taxi drivers hand the terminals to riders to complete transactions.
Drivers get paid by taking a paper voucher provided by TaxiEpay to participating locations, such as service stations, where they can cash in the amounts owed without being charged commissions, Live Group said.
TaxiEpay earns revenue from its share of a service fee assessed in Australia for taxi fares paid with a payment card, said Tom Varga, the chief executive of another Live Group unit, Live Payments. The fee covers the terminal costs, merchant fees and support services, he said.
Hypercom, of Scottsdale, Ariz., is leasing the terminals to Suncorp, an Australian bank that works with Live Group.
Taxis in Spain and France also use Hypercom's payment terminals.
