Operating With Ease
Register and Credit Terminal Integration Diminishes Fraud and Stress

For businesses waiting to upgrade to new POS equipment, there is a lot to consider. Are these latest systems feasible expenditures, and will they really save time and money down the road?
    Of course, any sizeable venue that serves a large number of customers each night will find solace in the various hand-held and touch-screen devices — not to mention the headache they can save servers, staff and customers. Some businesses on the other hand — particularly those in the beverage industry — may fare better to improve their venues with the latest technology on the rise in cash registers and credit card verification.
    According to figures from CRS Inc., a wholesale importer and distributor of cash registers, components and software, the electronic method of payments exceeded that of cash in 2003, while the paper check trend gave way to debit cards. The added convenience of this shift came at no small cost, however. Credit and debit fraud quickly took flight, leaving retailers and merchants in panic and with no option but to keep swiping the plastic cards. Today, the deception of trusted employees and superfluous errors make scams a prominent concern for any business.

Together At Last
    Newer electronic registers are taking the pinch out of pockets and providing better security measures through modern features. Current innovation merges both register and credit terminal, dismissing the need for redundant, stand-alone equipment that leaves operators more vulnerable to revenue theft and occupies precious counter space.
    “It eliminates the potential for fraud or downright errors from employees entering the wrong numbers,” says Craig Fuss, national sales manager for CRS. “Instead of having a stand-alone credit card terminal, it is now built in to work as if it’s part of the register.”
    Normally, employees would have to ring up the amount on both the register and the credit processor, leaving room for mistakes or manipulation. “When you have a transaction,” Fuss says, “the amount from the register is what’s authorized — not the amount that’s keyed into the terminal manually. That’s the big advantage; it can only authorize what you’ve already rung up.”

Ringing Up The Benefits
    Investing in one of the latest multi-payment, integrated terminals can do more than reduce security concerns. One-step transactions, competitive pricing, out-of-the-box usability and external linking capacity give the novice operator a professional edge  for expansion.
    Quicker processing turnaround appeases impatient customers and assists multi-tasking bartenders that want to keep a beverage in the hands of consumers. One swipe means less time at the register and more time tending to the public. It likewise keeps employees trustworthy and accurate on the busiest nights.
“For example,” Fuss says, “you could have a sale that you rang up for 90 dollars and could inadvertently authorize it for just nine dollars. There are quite a variety of benefits associated with taking that out of the employees’ hands.”

Accurate But Affordable
    The cash register industry has made strides in innovation, making yesterday’s machines seem so obsolete that operators will wonder how they ever survived with older systems. Years ago, registers that housed a small LCD screen but no credit processor were still so expensive that most businesses shied away from upgrading. “Today,” Fuss says, “(operators) would be able to get that with a built-in card reader and have a touch screen for about the same price as what a register used to cost. So it is very competitive.”
    Club owners will be astounded at the new, reasonably priced technology out there. Forget about investing thousands in flashy new POS systems with features that smaller venues will never utilize. Most integrated payment alternatives start at only a few hundred dollars.
    “If you haven’t done anything for about five years, it might be worth your time to look at the marketplace again and consider whether you should upgrade or not,” Fuss says. “There have been some significant improvements to products and technology since then.”

Plug In, Link Up, Move On
    Nowadays, these advanced electronic registers are so user friendly that most are ready for use straight from the box. Like many personal computers on the market, the plug-and-play feature rids of the hours of tedious programming normally associated with a new configuration. “You put (the register) in, and it works like it’s supposed to, and it eliminates the problems (operators) had with the stand-alone terminals,” Fuss says.
    Serial ports, like the ones used by modems that authorize credit transactions, are now able to communicate with external equipment often employed by beverage retailers and nightclubs. “You can hook up liquor dispensing and credit card processing right through the register — and a barcode scanner as well. There are a variety of things they can do. That’s probably the biggest difference between 10 years ago and today: the serial communication with external, off-the-shelf devices and partners, whether it be coin dispensers or scanners.”  

Will It Work?
    Compatibility issues are still of some concern, although most devices will now connect to new equipment with little or no difficulty. Generally, stand-alone credit terminals are purchased, on a contractual basis, through some independent sales organization. The price of the machine is bundled in with processing fees that businesses encounter when leasing the equipment from outside companies. By purchasing an integrated terminal direct, owners will pay only for processing. “Most businesses find that these rates are pretty comparable with what CRS offers through their retail partners,” Fuss says.
    “The biggest issue we’ve had is if the bar owner has a relationship with a given credit processing system, and they want to change to a new cash register and keep that (system). It’s easier to start with a new relationship sometimes, with a different processor and do it all at once. The whole network is easier to configure using an approved processor.”
    And the benefit, Fuss says, is that “you can buy the cash register and the credit processor all from the same source now.” With new technology continually emerging, Fuss knows there are a lot of choices for owners to consider. “First of all,” he says, “they have to look at where they are at right now with the technology they’re using today. They may find that the return on investment is pretty small if they do something that’s more current, based on what benefits they’re going to get out of the system.”
    A small business, therefore, may not need all of those surplus features found on the more costly POS solutions.
    “They have to really look at their own unique needs,” Fuss says. “More often than not, it would be beneficial, if they’ve had a system five years or longer, to change to something up-to-date. The electronic cash register is one option.”                              NCB