Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By Kevin Woodward
@DTPaymentNews
Merchant-services provider Cayan released a semi-integrated mobile-payment device that accepts EMV chip card payments, the Boston-based company announced Tuesday.
Dubbed Genius Handheld, the device enables clerks to accept multiple forms of payment while standing in a store aisle or at a popup location to shorten checkout queues. The WiFi-enabled device can be used in conjunction with a Genius-compatible countertop device or in a standalone capacity. Cayan’s Genius is a cloud-based, secure point-of-sale platform.
In addition to its EMV and magnetic-stripe readers, the device also has near field communication (NFC) technology, a secure PIN pad, and digital-signal capture. A barcode-scanning function is in development, Cayan says.
Cayan developed the device to help merchants, Marc Castrechini, vice president of product management, tells Digital Transactions News via an email. “Today’s informed consumers expect a more personalized and convenient shopping experience,” Castrechini says. “With Genius Handheld, that’s precisely what retailers will be able to provide. Genius Handheld allows sales associates to come out from behind the counter, engage one-on-one with customers, and process their preferred payment type anywhere on the sales floor, including chip card (EMV).”
An employee’s ability to bring the checkout to the customer while she shops also could aid sales, he says. “Empowering sales associates with Genius Handheld lets them provide a level of service that can influence customers’ purchasing decisions even more than price. Expedited payment processing boosts the likelihood of each sale and results in greater customer satisfaction.”
The Genius Handheld device uses the same application programming interface software already in the Genius platform.
Cayan would not release the price for the Genius Handheld device, but says merchants can purchase or lease it and pay a monthly fee for the Genius platform access. It cannot be white-labeled at this time, Castrechini says.
