Ingram Micro Adds New POS Software To Linecard
Through its Data Capture/POS Division--which was formed from Ingram's 2004 acquisition of Nimax, a distributor of AIDC/POS, bar-code and wireless products--Ingram will now distribute Aldelo Systems' Restaurant POS software either as standalone restaurant management software or bundled into a more complete POS solution. In addition to POS software and hardware, Ingram's POS division also offers bundles for the hospitality market that include complementary products from the distributor's broadline business in such areas as digital signage and security.
A current technology refresh of POS systems in restaurants combined with a steady influx of new restaurants is helping drive high single-digit to low double-digit growth of POS system sales into the hospitality market, says John Soumbasakis, vice president and general manager of Ingram Micro's Data Capture/POS Division.
One area in particular showing increased demand is mobile POS systems, where restaurant patrons, for example, can slide their credit card at their tables instead of turning their cards over to a server for processing. Restaurants see mobile POS as a way to provide convenience and to give identity-theft-conscious consumers more of a perception of control of their credit card transactions.
An interest in more secure POS systems in restaurants will likely increase in the coming year, as credit-card companies continue to place more pressure on merchants to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Visa, for example, said in December that it would offer $20 million in financial incentives to fuel merchants' compliance. Visa has also mandated that merchants can not use payment devices, such as PIN pads, that are vulnerable to compromise. Rather, they must use unique encryption keys for every device. Just this month, as an example, the pin pads on two debit card machines at a Wendy's restaurant in Edmonton, Canada, were compromised, affecting more than 400 customers' cards, according to the Edmonton Police.
Nationwide chain Ruby Tuesday this month is also deploying more secure POS hardware and software in its 900 restaurants. Visa has said the new systems--which, among its new security features, add stronger encryption and link directly to the merchant bank instead of using a third-party credit-card processing company--are compliant with the PCI standard.