Accelitec Partners With Fujitsu on RFID Payments
Fujitsu Transaction Services and Accelitec working together to develop a customer base for the PayPilot RFID platform. In the year 2005 Accelitec had launched an RFID enabled payment platform. The platform has been designed as a retailer focused version of contact less payment system. The system has emerged from the 3 major credit card associations namely Visa, MasterCard and American Express. The new technology developed by Accelitec supports cards issued by any of the three credit card associations and also electronic-check transactions and prepaid accounts.
The option is designed so that the retailers are saved from paying the fee that is associated with the debit or credit transactions. This is a way of providing incentives to customers that are using PayPilot. Incentives are also given in the form of loyalty points or any other kind of special discount for e-check or pre paid transactions. Retailers can motivate their customers to sign up for PayPilot accounts.
Now after a year things have not changed much. Only The Woods Coffee has deployed the PayPilot. The Woods Coffee is a 4 store chain in northwest Washington. The system has been appreciated by the patrons and around 3500 Speed Bean RFID fobs have been issued till date. Around 13% of the transactions made in the four stores make use of the Speed Bean fob. It has been observed that during holidays the adoption increased as Speed Bean prepaid fobs became a popular stocking stuffer gift idea.
The PayPilot system consists of a self-service kiosk consumers can use to open new accounts. On the establishment of a self service kiosk the consumer can make use of it to make new accounts. On the establishment of the account the kiosk will dispense a key fob that has an embedded ISO 14443-compliant 13.56 MHz passive RFID inlay encoded with a unique ID linked to the consumer’s account. The platform also includes a networked with the retailers’ point-of-sale terminal and a consumer-facing interrogator.
According to Fred Miller, Accelitec’s director of business development:
We let the retailer set the rules. Some have talked about using it just as a loyalty device. The key is that we link into the merchants’ own payment platform, so the type of payments they’ll accept [under, for instance, a loyalty card program] is up to the merchant. Working with retailers to customize the PayPilot program to their needs, Miller explains, is what sets the PayPilot apart from the RFID-enabled cards issued by banks. The merchants can reach out to their consumers [with the PayPilot program]. When we talk with some merchants, such as pet stores or other specialty stores, they talk about having such a strong bond with customers.
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