New system to lift EFT-POS sales

Press, 18 March 1989, Page 8

New system to lift EFT-POS sales

By

Pattrick Smellie

j in Wellington

A big push to expand the use of electronic payment with plastic cards is under way.

It hinges on the introduction of a new system which allows any credit card to be used with the “Quicksmart’’ machines run by the Westpac and National banks. The system known as "signature verification,” eliminates the manual process of paying by credit card and requires only the customer’s signature on a computerised docket. No personal identification number is required. The system is expected to speed transactions up. and will create a big new

tomers at the machines involved. The chief marketing manager for Westpac, Mr Paul Bayliss, said the new system was expected to increase EFT-POS transactions 15 to 20 times. But the system will not be in Christchurch for some time yet. Trials will first be conducted at the more than 100 EFT-POS outlets in Wellington from the beginning of April. Mr Bayliss said not all EFT-POS machines could handle signature verifica-. tion, since they needed to

base of credit cards for the troubled electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFT-POS) system the two trading banks are running. By accepting any credit card, it is also an important step towards the integration of differing EFTPOS systems, such as that run by the Trust Banks, and the Cashline system in which Postßank is the main partner. The system now only works with credit cards.. Debiting bank accounts is only possible for Westpac and National Bank cus-

be able to produce carbonised receipts. A seminar on the development of EFT-POS in Wellington this week heard 1 that while New Zealand had a small population base for such a system, it had a high number of cards for each person. The New Zealand average was 2.4 plastic cards a person, against 0.5 cards a person in Britain. Signature verification had caused a hugh growth in EFT-POS transactions after it was introduced in Europe, the seminar was told.