Breakthrough technology gives merchants freedom to accept payments from any method or device

ALLENTOWN, USA: Leading national point of sale (POS) system and merchant services provider Harbortouch unveiled its "future-proof" payment terminal, Perkwave, which enables merchants to accept the latest smart card and mobile payment technologies.

Merchants using Perkwave will no longer need to worry about turning away business due to not supporting the latest payment options.

In addition to standard credit and debit card acceptance, this integrated solution supports the most common new payment methods as it features an EMV-enabled credit card terminal integrated with a customer-facing near field communication (NFC) reader.

With NFC technology, consumers simply swipe their smartphone to seamlessly pay with a mobile payment solution such as Google Wallet or ISIS. With investment from Google, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, the number of NFC-enabled phones are rapidly expanding, and demand is growing from consumers who want a simple electronic payment solution.

Consumers that want an added layer of security are choosing EMV-enabled credit cards known as "smart cards" due to their embedded microprocessors. These cards provide robust security features and other applications not possible with traditional magnetic stripe cards. Visa, MasterCard, Discover Network and American Express recently announced future migration to such cards due to the benefits of added security. Merchants that cannot accept EMV payments will fall out of compliance regulations and face increased liability for data breaches and chargebacks.

The Perkwave terminal can be updated remotely to support additional payment methods in the future and also includes a proprietary "heartbeat" feature which allows Harbortouch to monitor terminal up-time, automatically alerting the company's technical support department if a terminal experiences any issues in the field.

This feature enables the company to proactively resolve issues, in some cases before the merchant is even aware of the problem. The terminal also includes the ability for customers to receive e-receipts sent directly to their e-mail address and is compatible with the Perkwave loyalty program currently under development by Harbortouch.