TNS' IP-based solution will provide Anglia with the fastest way to securely authorize credit card transactions with the acquiring banks. Payment data from the 400 till points across Anglia's 75 stores will be securely transported over TNS' private network, providing a high-speed digital connection for card authorization.

For Anglia, the major driver behind the change of till systems was Chip and PIN payments, which require a larger amount of data to be transmitted than traditional magstripe payments. Recognizing the increase in performance IP-based solutions provide, Anglia has integrated this solution into its new till system, greatly reducing communication costs by eliminating ISDN line rental and dial-up charges.

"We expect to reduce transaction processing times from 30 seconds, in some ISDN dial-up cases, to under five seconds, with sub-second authorizations," said Jon Peet, business systems analyst at the Anglia Society. "Customers will no longer have the dreaded wait for the authorization to come through. Five seconds from pressing enter on the Chip and PIN keypad to the teller finishing the transaction; IP-Auth from TNS is the saving grace of updating our till systems."

"Retailers want to harness the benefits of IP technology across their networks and we are really starting to see this happen," said Richard Collins, sales director at TNS. "The communications and connectivity infrastructure available to the retail industry today goes a long way to making genuine differences to queue busting and customer service at peak trading times."