New Card Acceptance Solution by Viableware
- The mobile solution developed by Viableware for the catering industry, RAIL, allows digital billing and at-the-table payment. The device looks like a wallet (see image) and is handed over to the customers for payment. Once the transaction made, light signals are set to warn the waiters (for cash or card payments).
- This tool is also of use in customer management contexts (marketing, loyalty, etc.). In addition, as the payment card does not have to be taken away from its holder, he can check on his means of payment; this may lower the risk of fraud.
- The basic offer includes integration in the existing POS system, the BaseStation, a secure wireless system, the RAIL devices (one machine for three tables on average) as well as a monthly maintenance service. The NFC-compatible devices allow for card acceptance (mag-stripe and smart cards); they also display a touchscreen, a bill splitting tool, a calculator for tips, a signature field and receipt e-mailing programme. Finally, all communications between the BaseStation and Viableware servers are encrypted.
- Additional developments should make it possible for merchants to accept m-wallets too.
- This solution purports to gather all the needs of the catering industry and make cash collection management easier. This sector often has to cope with consumers’ distrust as its way of functioning often favours fraud proliferation: to remedy this situation, acceptance devices are currently being rethought.
- Beginning 2011, Enable Table, allowed restaurant managers to reward customers through discounts offered upon payment (see January 2011 Insight). In May 2011, VeriFone and Micros Systems started proposing NFC solutions and in July, ATX Innovation launched TabbedOut, a dedicated payment solution.
- Breaches such as the one that affected Subway in December 2011 assert a need for more segregation and partitioning of card data out of the restaurants systems as most of them have proved unable to comply with PCI-DSS standard processes. Viableware is especially aware of these issues and proposes an EMV compliant solution.