VeriFone Holdings Inc. has changed its name to VeriFone Systems Inc.
The Holdings part of the name dated to the 1990s, when Hewlett-Packard Co. owned VeriFone, a VeriFone representative said.
Founded in the early 1980s, VeriFone grew as its Zon and Tranz lines of terminals helped merchants convert from paper-based transactions to electronics payments.
VeriFone was publicly held from 1990 to 1997, when the computer giant Hewlett-Packard paid nearly $1.3 billion in stock for the company in hopes of exploiting its expertise in smart cards and payment technology.
The San Jose company generated revenue of $844.7 million in its 2009 fiscal year, which ended Oct. 31.
It announced the name change Tuesday.
Analysts predicted that consumers soon would be using smart-card-reading Hewlett-Packard computers to shop online instead of at walk-in stores.
But the deal turned out badly for H-P: reality set in about the U.S. chip card market and consumers preferences in online payment, and the two corporate cultures failed to mesh.
H-P sold VeriFone in 2001 for $164.6 million to Gores Technology Group LLC, led by Douglas C. Bergeron, who is now VeriFone's chief executive. In 2002, Bergeron teamed with the Chicago private-equity firm GTCR Golder Rauner LLC to recapitalize VeriFone with GTCR as the majority stockholder.
GTCR has since sold its shares in the company.
