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This article appears in the Dec. 11 edition of ISO&Agent Weekly.
United Bank Card Inc. says it has sold hundreds of its Harbortouch integrated point-of-sale systems, which the ISO introduced in June.
Besides containing a magnetic-stripe card swipe, the personal computer-based system includes software for a employee time clock, merchandise pricing and inventory management. Hampton, N.J.-based United Bank Card is one of the first ISOs to independently develop and sell its own POS system.
The system saves steps so servers do not have to visit the kitchen as often to turn in orders, says Robert Rinaldi, owner of Half Point Pub, a Whippany, N.J.-based restaurant and Harbortouch user.
The Harbortouch system makes it easier for servers to input customer orders, which translates into the server not forgetting to enter an item or incorrectly price it, Rinaldi says. That, in turn, ensures nothing is left off of the transaction when it is processed, something that improves the income an ISO makes off the transaction.
Diversifying Efforts
The fact that an ISO would develop its own POS system versus solely selling standalone payment terminals is another example of ISOs' various efforts to retain merchants, one analyst says.
"Existing product lines don't have the gas they used to," George Peabody, advisory service at Mercator Advisory Group Inc., a Maynard, Mass.-based consulting and research firm, tells ISO&Agent Weekly.
Developing their own POS systems may help ISOs stem merchant-attrition rates by offering the merchant more services and making it more difficult for the merchant to switch ISOs, Peabody says.
Because the Harbortouch device runs exclusively on the United Bank Card network and provides the merchant with more than just payment functions, it becomes "harder to rip it out," he says.
Designed For Small Merchants
The company designed the system to provide small merchants with some of the same functions as more-elaborate Wal-Mart Stores Inc. or Applebee's International Inc. use, says James Surber, vice president of Harbortouch POS. Surber would not disclose the price of a Harbortouch system, saying only the price depends on the configuration.
Merchants can have various software and payment devices, such as contactless readers, installed on the system. ISOs typically are unfamiliar with selling POS systems, United Bank Card CEO Jared Isaacman said when Harbortouch was introduced earlier this year. But he hoped this device would be simpler to sell because all of the programming, help-desk support, installation and merchant training is handled by Isaacman's company.
