The Aries 8 Payment Terminal from PAX Is PDC (Pretty Darn Cool)

Finally finally finally - a payment terminal manufacture has released a new next generation payment terminal that can be more than just a payment terminal (eg: run POS apps as well as processing payments).

This Aries 8 payment terminal from PAX has the potential to take off site sales to a whole new level! True curbside pickup that allows for a card present transaction and requires only one device.

I'm looking forward to getting some hands on experience with these new payment terminals. For now, a picture will have to suffice:

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Point of Sale Hardware

A collection of products that I have been made aware of that are designed to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus on high touch devices like payment terminals.

I have not tested any of these products and make no claim to warranties, effectiveness, durability or similar. I do not sell these products or have any relationship with the companies that make or sell these products.

I've been made aware of these products and feel that they may be of interest to retailers as more retail stores open across the US.

Here are the products covered in the video:

SpacePole Payment Terminal Paddle: Cost is around $30-$100. Purpose is to help with social distancing. Website:  https://www.spacepole.com/products/spacepole-mounting/spacepole-payment-paddle/

Payment Terminal Protective Covers: Cost starts around $15.00. Purpose is to add a skin/plastic membrane cover over the high touch parts of a payment terminal. One potential source to purchase this product is: https://discountcreditcardsupply.com/shop?category_no=119

Clear Plastic Stands: Cost $190+. Purpose is to add a barrier between the cashier and the customer. Large variety of products are available on the market. One example can be found here: https://www.shoppopdisplays.com/P_Shield002/clear-acrylic-cashier-checkout-shield-barrier-with-access-hole-screw-mount.html

UV Clean: Cost: TBD. Purpose is to sanitize payment terminals using UV light. More information can be found here: https://www.ens-co.com/solutions/products/uv24-pt/

Most of these products focus on the payment terminals instead of other POS hardware like the barcode scanners, etc. Generally, the payment terminals high the highest amount of touches from many different people throughout the day. The other POS hardware is generally only used by your employees and can be wiped down as needed.

If you have any PPE for POS Hardware that would be of interest to retailers, please contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632.

Now Offering Support for the Vantiv / Mercury Microsoft RMS Integration

Due to demand, we are now able to provide support to Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software users who also use the Vantiv/Mercury/WorldPay payment integration along with the VX805 payment terminals (other payment terminals may be supported as well - so far we've only seen the ICS 250's and the VX 805's being used).

I've had around a half dozen retailers contact me as their current provider could not, or would not, provide support. Here are the stipulations:

• This is paid support (can choose pay as you go or pre-purchase discounted labor which lowers the hourly rate from $125/hour to under $100/hour - billed in 15 minute increments).
• A Dealer Change form must be completed in order for our support techs to have access to the information needed to support the system.

Please contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com for more information. You can also use my work contact information if that is easier for you: 208-994-9404 or kevina@rite.us

ADA and Point of Sale Systems

I don't think that I've ever posted related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and how it effects point of sale systems. Mostly it seems that POS systems are designed to accommodate employees with various capabilities. Recently, I've run in to a couple of retailers who had been advised that that the payment terminals for the POS system needed to be lowered (or the whole counter needed to be lowered).

Obviously you never want to make it difficult for anyone to make a purchase in your business so it is wise to be familiar with any guidelines related to counter height and general accessibility.  It is possible that fines could be levied should your store not be in compliance.

As I am in no way an expert in this subject matter - it would be great if anyone who has some expertise could chime in. All I've seen in my travels is either one check out stand with a lowered counter or some payment terminals mounted on arms that can be rotated out and down to a suitable height.

If you are willing to contribute, please contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632. Thanks!

The Continued Saga of EMV in the US and Things to be Aware of

Quite a few studies and articles have been posted this week related to EMV in the US and how it relates to retail point of sale systems.  I'll link to the articles below but here are some bullet points:

• Watch for POS systems that use the old Mag Stripe Readers - these are generally not compatible with chip cards and most payment processing companies no longer support these devices for security reasons.
• Look out for solutions that say that the hardware/software is "EMV Ready" - these systems can not yet actually process chip cards.
• It looks like around 40% (or more) of retailers do not yet have equipment that can process EMV/chip cards.
• A good example of a solution that is true EMV (I've tested and installed multiple times myself) is Card Defender for Microsoft Dynamics RMS and Cloud Retailer (specialty retail point of sale software).  These systems are tested, certified, and even can be upgraded as new payment security requirements are introduced.

Do contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632 with any questions about EMV, Retail POS, Card Defender or Cloud Retailer.

Here are the articles - note that these are on a well known industry web site (Business Solutions Magazine) with point of sale technology news and information. Free registration is required to view the whole article:

https://www.bsminfo.com/doc/emv-in-us-still-has-a-long-way-to-go-0001

https://www.bsminfo.com/doc/why-emv-payment-integrations-aren-t-easy-0001

https://www.bsminfo.com/doc/remove-cost-and-time-as-barriers-to-emv-upgrades-0001

End of Life Notice Regarding: PAX Terminals & PIN pads

To our Valued Customers and Partners,  

As part of our continued focus toward providing our customers and partners the highest level of service, quality and security, PAX wants to inform you of our plans to End of Life (EOL) certain MT30, S90 GPRS, S90 CDMA and S58, S80 terminals as well as certain R50, SP30 and SP20 Secure PIN pads with PCI versions 2.x and 1.x. Here are the affected part numbers for these models:

• MT30: MT30-00L-052-01EA
• S90 GPRS:S90-SG0-031-01EA, S90-EMG2, S90-EG2
• S90 CDMA: S90-0C0-032-11EA
• S58: S58-M0L-032-01EA
• SP30:SP30-231, SP30- 211A, SP30-00L-132-12EA, SP30-00L-032-13EA
• SP20: SP20-130-4E0
• S80:S80-M0L-063-02EA, S80-EML0, S80-EM0,  S80-M0L-032-11EA
• R50:R50-101-1E0

Note: The S80 (S80-M0L-363-02EA), S90 GPRS (S90-MW0-363-01EA), S90 CDMA (S90-MC0-363-01EA) and SP30 (SP30-00L-263-01EA)with PCI 3.x are not impacted by this announcement.   The important dates listed below signify the termination of device support and availability:  

Final Order Date: PAX will cease taking orders for all configurations of the terminals listed above after April 1, 2017.   

Customers will have the opportunity to submit a final order for the product or for spare parts until the Final Order Date. 

Final Ship Date: PAX's intention is that all orders placed prior to April, 1, 2017 will be shipped no later than April 28, 2017. 

End of Development Date: There will be no new PAX sponsored hardware, application enhancements or software development upon receipt of this notice. Software bug fixes will continue until the End of Service date (below).   

Repair support will be available for customers for two years after the final ship date, as component availability permits, unless otherwise explicitly agreed between PAX and its customers. 

End of Service Date: On April 30^th, 2019, service and repair of all configurations of the aforementioned devices will be discontinued.  Spare parts will not be guaranteed to be available after this date.

PAX recommends and encourages our customers and partners to initiate plans to migrate your end-of-life products and applications to an alternative PAX product. The PAX terminals provide affordable and higher performance successor products that meet today's most stringent PCI security standards. Please contact your local sales person for additional information or visit the PAX web-site at http://paxtechnology.us/#. 

PAX is one of the fastest-growing POS terminal providers in the world. PAX has been serving the global retail marketplace for over ten years and has distribution in over eighty countries shipping over 10 million terminals worldwide in recent years. PAX offers a complete line of products and services supported by extensive R&D capabilities. In addition to a most competitive pricing model, quality assurance is the company's top priority which enables PAX to have a strong advantage in the marketplace.