Hypercom Corporation has won a $50 million contract to rollout its ePic ICE card payment terminals and Web appliances in support of Blackstone’s POS (point-of-sale) pre-paid card activation program.
The agreement represents one of the largest contracts ever awarded to a point-of-sale payments terminal manufacturer. The size of the order reflects the rapid expansion of the prepaid calling card market segment. That segment climbed to almost $4 billion in 2000, and prepaid wireless products now coming to market are expected to increase that by as much as 50% this year, says the company.
US retailers will be able to use the terminals to sell prepaid calling cards as well as the new prepaid products and services – including prepaid dial tone, Internet access and prepaid wireless services – on the same device that handles their traditional credit card payment functions. They also no longer have to inventory cards, count prepaid inventory, reconcile payments or store paper transactions.
Hypercom’s ePic ICE terminals support a range of applications and services including: electronic signature and receipt capture, e-mail, on-screen advertising, interactive electronic coupons, user e-commerce function and cash management reporting through a standard browser – as well as secure credit, debit and smart card functions.