Self-service segment leader Apunix has partnered with a multinational retail giant Verifone. Verifone will now offer Apunix software on its new kiosk line.
The initiative is dubbed Kiosk Solutions Secure Payment Software. Each company exhibited the other's products April 10-11 at this year's KioskCom in Las Vegas, and both companies' spokespeople were equally optimistic about the deal.
Verifone executive vice president Bud Waller said his company's presence surprised KioskCom attendees.
"When you start putting payments into kiosks, you'd better know how to do that," Waller said. "I wouldn't say we're the only ones in this industry, but we're the 800 pound gorilla."
He cited the company's 25-year history in the retail financial-hardware business, and the company's latest acquisition of its multinational Israeli counterpart, Lipman Electronic Engineering, as solid foundations for the foray into the kiosk market.
Waller said Verifone's history with Apunix began when he met that company's founders, Drs. Sylvia and Peter Berens, at a previous Kioskcom show and he became interested in their company because, like Verifone, they use the UNIX operating system.
"I was impressed that a pair of Ph.D.s from MIT use our development environment," Waller said.
Timothy Gendreau, founder and principal of The Gendreau Group LLC, a revenue-strategy consulting firm, said Verifone will utilize Apunix's expertise in the software space.
"Verifone is into payments. They're into hardware that facilitates payments in the (checkout) lane," he said. "We are helping Verifone to move from the lane to the aisle. Now people can, instead of payment, do 20 or 30 other functions using the Verifone hardware powered by the Apunix software."
The Apunix-powered hardware includes the new Verifone MX870 minikiosk, a tiny unit employing a 320x240 pixel monitor, 32 megs of RAM and 32 megs of flash memory. The unit's full-motion video is meant to capture shoppers' attention. It also includes a Triple DES encoded touch interface, which can work like a PIN pad on an ATM.
The GUI, graphics and front-end software are programmed by Apunix.
"The display is eyecatching," Verifone spokesperson Mandy Ownley said, while demonstrating the unit on the KioskCom show floor. "The graphics, and the faceplates, are interchangeable."
Waller said Verifone sees an obvious appeal in the affordability of self-service compared to traditional service.
"We deal with retail merchandisers all over the world," he said. "And what we see is labor costs are first on the hit parade."
