Time seems to fly - it only seems like yesterday that the UK payments industry attended Retail Solutions in Birmingham and not that long since the last edition of Smart Technology Solution Limiteds quarterly newsletter, SmartLink.

When STS released our original software many years ago we promised the market that the upcoming delivery of EMV needed to be about much more than EMV itself. What else can you do with your new payments systems, how can you respond quickly to new demands and requirements from your customers.

This third newsletter looks at two examples of how the STS philosophy of open-software based systems provides the ease and flexibility to add new applications. The first example is the new STS plug-in module, Touchlink, designed to support the next wave of payment technology, contactless payments. The second example is from one of our retailers, the Co-operative Group who have highlighted an innovative method of re-using PIN pads to provide customer surveys for their staff.

We also take the opportunity to have a sneak peak at Mike Hendrys latest book Multi-application Smart Cards: Technology and Applications. Mike is regarded as one of the thought leaders of the smart card industry and his look into the future provides ideas of how flexible software systems can be easily used for new applications.

And finally we deliver Ollies quarterly view of the payments industry, this time with a look back at Retail Solutions and his thoughts on contactless payments and new technology.

Kind Regards



CEO, Smart Technology Solutions Limited

    
1. Product Release - Touchlink
2. EMV Driving Common Platforms
3. Co-operative Group expand chip and PIN pad functionality
4. Multi-application Smart Cards: Technology and Applications
5. Ollies World Retail Solutions 2007

Smart Technology Solutions Limited (STS), an innovator in providing smart card solutions, announces the launch of its contactless payment system, Touchlink. Touchlink, based on its award-winning Emvelink, a plug-in for the STS SmartNS framework, offers all retailers and banks a versatile platform for the introduction of contactless payment schemes.

 

Malaysia and the UK have been the global leaders in the roll-out of smart cards into the consumers hands. This roll-out, driven by the growing use of EMV-based credit and debit cards, is gradually being replicated into new markets as these cards replace magnetic stripe cards. Traditionally payments markets around the world have been stand-alone with no common platforms between different countries. This lack of consistency has been a large barrier to multi-national companies and an impediment to new payments companies looking to compete in these markets.

  

Through STS, the Co-operative Group is now able to gather up to 300,000 customer responses from stores around the country within 24 hours at a saving of #100,000 a time.

  

STS doesnt always make a habit of promoting other peoples literary endeavours, however we are always willing to encourage and highlight the work of people we consider visionaries in our field.

  

Contactless payments was the hot topic at Retail Solutions this year, seen on stands as varying as Visas, Barclays as well as the hugely popular Store of the future stand from Fujitsu (Radio One managed to omit that fact too and focussed on their excellent does my bum look big in this mirror).