Cellular and wireless retail management solutions provider iQmetrix is launching the RQ4 integration of TIO Networks' bill payment processing service this week to beta clients, with a full ramp up expected in the next two weeks.
"Our dealers are very excited about the RQ4 integration," TIO Director of Distribution Tony Habib said in a press release. "They've been asking us for this, for some time."
Under this new integration, TIO Networks' wireless retailer customers will have the choice of processing real-time bill payments via TIO's Web-enabled point-of-sale (POS) platform or through RQ4. This integration will be deployed across TIO's entire network of wireless dealers.
"One of the big advantages to integrating TIO bill payment into RQ4 is the reporting feature," Habib said in the release. "Previously, dealers had to use separate reporting between TIO and RQ4. Now, they can not only process the TIO payment in RQ4, they can access both payment info and reporting through the RQ4 system."
The recession period spurred growth for TIO, driving up demand for in-person payments as well as bill-payments kiosks. Back in January, Ylan Q. Mui of the Washington Post reported that big-box retailers were installing bill-payment kiosks in their stores, in order to meet increased demand. Since millions of low-income Americans don't have bank accounts, "alternative financial services" have become a $320 billion industry.
"According to a recent government survey, nearly 30 million households either do not have a bank account or use one sparingly," wrote Mui. "Nearly 70 percent of families considered 'unbanked' earn less than $30,000 a year and many say they will never do business at a bank."
