Retailers have many kiosks to choose from when it comes to increasing their bottom line. From photo kiosks and music download stations to pay-per-use Internet machines, the number of turnkey solutions available is significant, and the public's increasing acceptance of them makes their selection an easy one.
But as good as those kiosks are in opening doors for retailers to most of their customers, one group remains elusive: the unbanked.
"Unbanked" folks are those with no firm banking relationships, who do not typically carry checkbooks or ATM cards. For these people, business is always cash and carry. Trouble is, many kiosks are card-based. Since the unbanked number about 10 million in the U.S., they are a juicy, mostly untouched fruit for kiosk deployers.
| KIS Kiosk Information Systems, Inc. |
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Tom Weaver, vice president of sales and marketing for Kiosk Information Systems, said that billpay kiosks are designed to meet the needs of these customers while boosting sales for retailers. The use of the Shibby-branded kiosks at the Denver International Airport for billpay is one example of how a turnkey kiosk solution is reaching out to these cash-and-carry customers.
Profitable partnerships
KIS partnered with Info Touch Technologies and RHMES Communications of Denver to deploy 32 kiosks throughout the Denver airport, the fifth-busiest in the country. Previously used only for pay-per-use Internet access, the Shibby now also allows thousands of air travelers and airport employees to pay their Cricket wireless service in cash. Credit cards also are accepted, and check acceptance is expected to follow shortly. Cricket wireless service offers customers in 20 states unlimited any-time minutes for one monthly fee and no long-term contracts.
Similar kiosks are used in Cricket retail locations. Weaver points out that in the retail locations, the billpay kiosks are ideal for line busting. "Anything you can do to decrease lines for retailers is tremendous," said Weaver.
In the wireless retail market, it's common for customers to come in to reactivate accounts that were terminated due to nonpayment. Kiosks allow these customers to pay cash and avoid embarrassment at the same time.
Tom Williams, area general manager for Cricket, said, "Additional payment locations will benefit our customers since they will have another easy and convenient payment location. We anticipate kiosks will help us assist customers in our stores more efficiently."
In addition to serving the wireless retail market, Weaver notes that billpay kiosks can be found in many other high-traffic areas such as convenience stores, truck stops and hotels.
