FI Tech: clearing credit cards over broadband
HSBC and US company U.S.-based Global Payments Inc. have formed a joint venture to improve the speed and reliability of credit card clearing in both high-volume and emerging markets.
It's kind of obvious, really. Everyone has stood in a shop, embarrassed at the rapidly growing queue behind them as the credit card clearing machine moves at what appears to be glacial speed. It's all to do with slow comms tech working over slow phone lines - and the fact that the machine has to dial up and itself wait in a queue as requests are cleared on a first-come, first served basis.
How much easier it would be if the system were "always on." Like internet broadband.
Now, it can be.
For shops, the advantage is that transmission speeds are faster and there is no need to wait whilst the dialup works. And all too often watch bored or pressed-for-time customers abandon their planned purchases rather than queue.
At the other end, for the clearer, instead of a switchboard, access is limited only by the number of accesses that an internet server can take. And that's a lot.
For the clearer, the most obvious saving is that hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of phone lines will no longer be needed. Expensive switchgear will not need to be renewed. And the speed of transactions will be increased, so improving throughput.
And for whichever party paid for the calls, the saving there will also be substantial.
Global Payments operates in Brunei, China, Hong Kong, India, Macau, Malaysia, the Maldives, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. The new service is being rolled out in Brunei, Hong Kong, Macau, the Maldives, the Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka.
The system uses high-level encryption from end to end, limiting the risk of data theft.
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