Point-of-sale terminals soon

Press, 20 August 1984, Page 30

Point-of-sale terminals soon

The trading banks will install point-of-sale computer terminals at retail outlets in Wellington and Auckland this year. .., They will be a pilot scheme to test the acceptability of a point-of-sale system.

A new machine designed for retail outlets will be capable in the intitial pilot scheme of accepting the four trading banks auto-matic-teller-machine (ATM) cards (Autobank, Cashpoint, and Handyway). Later, Visa, Bankcards, and cards of certain other operators will be able to be used as well.

A customer when making a purchase will tender his card for payments. The retailer will “swipe” it through the machine, which will be linked to bank files. These authorise the amount of the purchase and under strict security procedures, including the customer’s identifying himself by entering his PIN number (a fourdigit personal identification code) on a separate piece of equipment. The purchase amount will be debited electronically to the purchaser and at the same time is electronically credited to the retailer. Receipts can be issued to

enable later verification and reconciliation procedures to take place. The pilot scheme was announced by Mr Logan Russell, leader of the elec-tronic-banking project team of the New Zealand Bankers’ Association. Roughly one quarter of daily transactions through trading banks was already in electronic form, Mr Russell said. The trading banks set up the electronic banking project team about 10 months ago to investigate future banking services. About 17 years ago the New Zealand trading banks established a

national funds-settlement network through its Databank Systems network. This is capable of carrying a significant volume of point-of-sale transactions. The trading banks were in the best possible position to offer the public the new service of point of sale transactions and later inhome banking facilities, Mr Russell said. “In simple terms this new service will convert the monetary transactions between the two parties to an electronic form at the time when a purchase is made at a supermarket, department store or at the petrol

pump.” The point-of-sale ATMs are only one of many electronic developments likely. “With the advent of personal computers in home and terminals and computers in commercial offices there is an opportunity to provide customers with information, or enable them to manipulate or make transactions on their accounts without the need to call at the bank, write cheques, or make deposits as they have done to date,” Mr Russell said.