WAWA, Pa. -- Wawa Inc. has purchased and installed more than 2,000 of Hypercom Corp.'s Optimum L4100 high-speed card payment terminals at its more than 540 retail stores in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Wawa has also named Hypercom its preferred supplier of card payment devices based on the L4100's advanced functionality, including the ability to support contactless payment systems that speed checkout by eliminating swiping and signature requirements.
The Hypercom terminals are configured to Wawa's specifications [image-nocss] to accept magnetic stripe credit/debit cards and smart cards as well as contactless cards or key fobs that communicate with the terminal without any physical contact. These contactless systems use embedded radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to securely transmit consumer account information over radio frequency waves.
We switched our payment terminal business to Hypercom because the L4100 gives us a strong feature set, flexible configuration and a combination of security and reliability that we did not find in any other unit we evaluated, said Guy Festa, manager of store automation for the Wawa, Pa.-based retailer. All of our checkout counters are now equipped with the Hypercom product and ready to accept the new contactless forms of payment for faster checkout.
Specific features that led Wawa to select the L4100 include:
Industry-leading transaction speeds, based on a 200Mhz 32-bit Intel XScale processor. A 64K color 5.7-in., one-quarter VGA screen, permitting exact reproduction of corporate logos, advertising and promotional messages to deliver strong branding and marketing messages at the point of sale (POS). A bidirectional, dual-sided magnetic stripe reader, an exclusive feature that speeds checkout by allowing cards to be swiped from right or left, no matter which way the magnetic stripe is facing. An advanced screen protection and replacement system, including a scratch-resistant Terrapin screen protector, automatic disabling of the unit to prevent accidental screen damage if the protector is not in place a no-adhesive replacement of the protective overlays. Multiple connectivity options, with the ability to support RS-232, Ethernet and powered or nonpowered USB on the same device, enabling retailers to switch POS systems without replacing their payment terminals. Contactless RFID reader, capable of supporting ExpressPay from American Express, MasterCard PayPass and Visa Contactless payment programs to help speed transaction times.The Optimum L4100 also features a changeable bezel enabling retailers to incorporate their own branding, integrated signature capture, an optional compact flash card slot, and an optional EMV Level 1 and 2-approved smart card reader. The terminal is Visa PED compliant and can handle credit, debit, gift, loyalty and EBT (food stamp) cards and electronic check conversion.
Phoenix-based Hypercom offers card payment terminal, network and server solutions.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.