Hot POS Happenings: Wearable Tech, Mobility and Security Top Headlines in January

2/1/2016
The New Year rang in some major news in the point of sale; from the latest rollouts at the NRF Big Show to a new wearable introduction, plus updates about the latest breaches involving both Wendy’s and Hyatt. Also among the top headlines is research revealing that 72% of operators are seeking out mobile POS solutions. These stories, and more, are presented here in Hospitality Technology’s January POS recap.
 
Smart Bracelet Offers Wearable Payment and Access Solution for Hotel & Cruise Guests
Onity has launched Qing Solutions, a new wearable device that enables hospitality and cruise ship guests to make payments and access their rooms and other access-controlled spaces from a smart bracelet. Designed to enhance the guest experience and provide hotels and resorts with an advanced and effective way to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, Onity’s Qing Solutions is the first radio frequency identification and near field communication-based wearable payment and access management system for the hospitality and cruise ship industry throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). As a single wearable device, the bracelet eliminates the need for guests to carry room keys, credit cards or cash.

 
Wendy's Investigating Unusual Card Activity across Some of its 5700 Locations
Wendy’s Co. revealed on Wednesday, January 27, 2016 that it was investigating reports of unusual activity with payment cards used at some of its 5,700 locations in the United States. Reuters reported that a spokesman for Wendy’s, Bob Bertini, revealed, "Reports indicate fraudulent charges may have occurred elsewhere after payment cards were legitimately used at some restaurants.”

 
Mobility Drives POS Upgrades for Restaurants
As mobile point of sale systems become more affordable, more operators are better positioned to implement the technology. Upgrading to mPOS systems can offer many benefits including increased efficiency and accuracy. Recent research from Software Advice, a site that offers comparisons of restaurant POS systems, reveals that 72% of restaurants are seeking out mPOS solutions. Justin Guinn, restaurant researcher at Software Advice, about the study’s focus and findings. 
 

Brink POS Seamlessly Engages Guests with Mobile Engagement Platform
ParTech, Inc. has announced an agreement with Punchh, provider of mobile loyalty and CRM technologies. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies have integrated the Punchh platform with the Brink POS Software solution for restaurants.
 
Hyatt Completes Payment Card Incident Investigation
Hyatt Hotels Corporation has completed its investigation of the previously announced payment card incident. The investigation identified signs of unauthorized access to payment card data from cards used onsite at certain Hyatt-managed locations, primarily at restaurants, between August 13, 2015 and December 8, 2015. A small percentage of the at-risk cards were used at spas, golf shops, parking, and a limited number of front desks, or provided to a sales office during this time period. The at-risk window for a limited number of locations began on or shortly after July 30, 2015.
 
Zaxby's Adds Virtual Gifting and Mobile Offerings to Gift Card Program
Zaxby’s Franchising LLC has selected the Patronix upgraded gift card solution that streamlines reconciliation of gift card activity at the Point of Sale (POS), while adding new capabilities such as a virtual gifting and mobile offerings. The Paytronix Gift Card Program enhancements make it easier for customers to share their loyalty toward a brand through the giving of gift cards, and for finance teams to reconcile sales and redemptions across multiple locations.
 
Reliability Key Factor in Pita Pit USA POS Rollout
Pita Pit USA has selected Panasonic’s Stingray III, the company’s enterprise-grade POS terminal, for its 250+ restaurants throughout the United States. Earlier this year Pita Pit Inc., one of the fastest-growing fast-casual restaurant franchises in the country, began a POS hardware selection process to replace current equipment approaching the end of its lifecycle.


Togo's Eateries Implements EMV Solution
Togo’s Eateries, Inc. has implemented an EMV payment solution in their San Pedro, California location. Via the Squirrel Professional point of sale system integrated with the Eigen payment engine, Togo’s successfully processed EMV transactions in their corporate head office store.

 
Creditcall Secures EMV Certification from First Data for Mobile POS Solution
Creditcall, the EMV-ready omni-channel payment gateway and EMV Kernel provider, has announced it gained EMV certification by First Data for its EMV SDK, ChipDNA for iOS and Android with the Miura M010 PINpad. Creditcall is now integrated with NCR Silver, making NCR Silver one of the first EMV-certified mobile point of sale (mPOS) systems. Small businesses processing payment cards with First Data can leverage this integration immediately with NCR Silver while developers and integrators can effortlessly incorporate EMV-chip card payments into their own solutions using one of the largest U.S. processors.
 
POS NEWS FROM NRF 2016  
Samsung Unveils New POS Solutions and Samsung Pay Gift Card Feature
Samsung Electronics America, Inc. announced new solutions designed to empower retailers in real-world environments, from attracting customers at the storefront to driving business efficiencies in the back office. Samsung showcased its retail solutions in four settings depicting the customer life cycle including Attract, Interact, Transact and Back Office with tech ranging from commercial displays to tablet based POS.


Purpose-Built Tablets Drive Mobile Innovation for Panasonic
Panasonic showcased new technologies at the 105th annual National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show, including new mPOS and rugged tablet devices. These new solutions target retailers of various sizes as well as supermarkets, table service restaurants, quick serve restaurants (QSR) and build upon the company’s 30 years of experience in the retail sector.
 
Verifone to Deliver End-to-End, EMV-Ready Payment Solution to Microsoft Dynamics Customers
Verifone has announced its partnership with Microsoft to provide comprehensive EMV-ready Payment as a Service solutions certified for Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail and Commerce solutions.
 
Epson to Debut Cloud Offering Along with POS Solutions
Epson America, Inc. demonstrated its new OmniLink Merchant Services (OMS) platform, a suite of cloud-based software solutions for the retail and hospitality markets, and present a wide range of partner solutions at the National Retail Federation Big Show 2016.
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