A new point-of-sale terminal from Vivotech Inc. capable of accepting Near Field Communication mobile payments and chip-and-PIN transactions could help position U.S. merchants to embrace EMV smart card technology and perhaps save them money on security-standards compliance costs, the vendor believes.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based NFC software and systems provider on Aug. 19 announced the launch of the ViVOpay 8100 terminal, which accepts payments initiate with magnetic stripe, chip and contactless cards and NFC-enabled phones. Vivotech calls its new reader a point-of-interaction device because customers using the device may swipe or tap their credit or debit card or use a mobile phone for payment by entering a PIN or signature.
The consumer also will be able to respond to prompts on the device’s LCD display for rewards or loyalty offerings from the merchant, the company stated in a press release.
The ViVOpay 8100 integrates with most leading point-of-sale host systems through Windows 2000/XP/WePOS-based applications.
Vivotech representatives were not immediately available for comment, but in the company press release one Vivotech executive viewed the capabilities of ViVOpay 8100 as a logical and overdue step for payments technology in the U.S.
“It’s about time the United States joins the rest of the world, which has been using highly secure contact and contactless chip technology for nearly a decade,” Michael Mullagh, Vivotech CEO, said in the release. “We have the affordable technology available today for merchants to take advantage of Visa’s incentives] while benefiting from rich NFC mobile commerce.”
Merchants using the reader may not have to pay to revalidate their compliance each year with Payment Card Industry data-security standards if they meet criteria Visa Inc. included in its recent announcement designed to encourage U.S. merchants to upgrade their terminals to comply with the EMV standard, the company states. Under Visa’s directive, merchants would not have to revalidate their PCI compliance if 75% of their Visa volume comes from EMV transactions (
The Vivotech announcement represents the beginning of similar ones the industry can expect from other payment vendors, one observer believes.
“I am not sure there will be a mad rush for [EMV and NFC-capable equipment], but when you look at the lifespan of a typical terminal, it is a finite lifespan, and it will always have to be replaced,” Scott Strumello, an associate with Auriemma Consulting Group, tells PaymentsSource.
Upgrades to NFC and other technologies likely will occur as older terminals need replacing, and the move to newer capabilities eventually will become more widespread as that process takes place, Strumello reasons.
Many retailers will have to make a significant investment to accommodate chip-and-PIN or NFC, so a startup company looking to compete with bigger providers “will have to offer it at the right price,” he adds.
Bob Russo, general manager of the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, tells PaymentsSource that the acceptance of EMV cards in the U.S. does not mean merchants will never have to comply with PCI standards, but it could save merchants money by not having to revalidate each year (
