Welcome Break speeds customer payments
By Retail Technology | Friday February 28 2014
UK motorway service operator modernises its instore payments operations by implementing a bespoke unified payment service
A new unified payments system is improving the speed of service Welcome Break can offer its customers and streamline the day-to-day management of transactions.
Having now been rolled out to all of Welcome Break’s 29 sites, the new system from retail communications provider Vodat International has seen transaction speed increase considerably thanks to the system's architecture and integration to the company's electronic point of sale (EPoS).
Faster queues and reconciliation
Faster transaction throughput subsequently meant that customer time spent queuing has been significantly reduced, resulting in more customers being served throughout the day. The integrated system means that all transactions are settled accurately within the system, resulting in hours of time saved automating what used to be a manual process.
David Willock, Welcome Break IT director, said: “We felt comfortable with the Vodat team and their level of knowledge and expertise to securely manage our high volume of payment transactions. The fact that the solution supports PCI [Payment Card Industry] compliance was of the utmost importance.
Customer card data is not held in the EPoS system, therefore costly EPoS development was avoided. Instead, card data is stored in one secure location, fully meeting the requirements of PCI compliance.”
Service and back-office improvements
He continued: “For me, the unified payment service delivered in partnership, is the IT driver that has enabled us to significantly improve our speed of service and back-office reconciliation.”
Welcome Break selected Vodat's unified payment service under the condition that it would be developed into a bespoke system to fit their specific business needs. The system was developed jointly by Welcome Break and Vodat, in partnership with STS Payments and Alaric (an NCR Company), and took over two years of development, testing and trialling.
Following the stringent testing, each site was on a six-week timeline with regard to the implementation because of the advanced technology updates that were made in terms of software, hardware, networking and communications.
Prior to installing the new system, Welcome Break had around 550 payment terminals installed, all with a separate phone lines. The Vodat system meant that it could significantly cut the amount of phone lines running through the retail estate – it has now been reduced to around 80 ADSL lines – while increasing the number of terminals to around 650.
