Commidea partners with Box Technologies to streamline logistics

Commidea partnered with Box Technologies to streamline logistics and take  responsibility for the deployment of mobile Chip and PIN payment terminals, providing a fully functional Chip & Pin solution. Box Technologies have, to date, helped Commidea to successfully configure and ship in excess of  25,000 rental terminals for two of the UK's major High Street banks, with a current live estate of approximately 17,000 rental terminals. The mobile payment terminals are configured, deployed and managed by Box Technologies under the product line of Box Services.

 
The Challenge
As consumers continue to favour card payments over cash, Commidea continues to see a rise in payment transactions passing through its payment system, in addition to a constant increase in service fulfilment with its customers. Commidea secured contracts to configure, supply and support mobile Chip and PIN payment terminals to two major High Street banks under a rental model.
 
To fulfil the contracts, Commidea needed a  service partner who was committed. responsive, knowledgeable and one who fully understood its business needs. Box Services have been a service partner for Commidea since 2006 and delivered in excess of 25,000 terminals to a wide range of customers; from sole traders requiring a single terminal to tier one clients and international sporting events.
 
Commidea rely on Box Services to ensure that this most demanding project is delivered with minimal disruption to its customers' businesses. With terminal uptime being business critical, Commidea need a reliable service partner who can supply replacement terminals the next working day in the event of a fault or accidental damage, loss or theft.
 
Parties Involved
Commidea - Part of the Point group and a market leader in the development of credit card processing technology, Commidea provides a range of high performance systems and tailor-made solutions for almost every industry and market sector. Commidea leverage the strength and experience of the wider multi-national group and continue to make investments in research and development to ensure that customers are offered the most secure, feature rich and cost effective payment solutions in the market.
 
Box Services - Box Services is a product line of Box Technologies, the UK's leading technology and service solutions provider. Box Services provides an extensive suite of service-based solutions for the most needing of business requirements. Utilising in-house capabilities, the company's suite of service-based solutions can be extensively adapted to include project office, configuration, deployment, technical support and product repair.
 
The Challenge
As consumers continue to favour card payments over cash, Commidea continues to see a rise in payment transactions passing through its payment system, in addition to a constant increase in service fulfilment with its customers. Commidea secured to configure, supply and support mobile Chip and PIN payment terminals to two major High Street banks under a rental model.
 
To fulfil the contracts, Commidea needed a service partner who was committed, responsive, knowledgeable, and one who fully understood its business needs. Box Services have been a service partner for Commidea since 2006 and delivered in excess of 25,000 terminals to a wide range of customers from sole traders requiring a single terminal to tier one clients and international sporting events.
 
Commidea rely on Box Services to ensure that this most demanding project is delivered with minimal disruption to its customers' businesses. With terminal uptime being business critical, Commidea need a reliable service partner who can supply replacement terminals the next  working day in the event of a fault or accidental damage, loss or theft.
 
The Solution
Commidea's flexible contract options meant its High Street bank customers could rent a  payment terminal, comprising all hardware, software and processing via Commidea's ICP processing service. Contract lengths varied between 1 week to 3 years, so administration efficiency and accuracy was paramount.
 
Box Services have successfully configured and shipped in excess of  25,000 GPRS terminals to the banks on both a long term lease and a short term rental basis, depending on customer preference. Box Services was challenged with providing a solution to meet extremely tight SLAs across a mobile client base.
 
Through Box Services' dedicated 39,000 square-foot technical facility, highly trained staff processed customer orders, configured the terminals (loaded applications and customer details, activated SIMs), and fully tested all equipment to ensure Commedia's customers received a reliable solution that meet their needs out of the box. Box Services was also responsible for charging and conditioning the terminals' batteries, along with testing and inserting flyers/instructions.
 
Box Services then shipped personalised devices on the next business day, provided a 36-month warranty, organised collection of failed devices and delivered replacement terminals in one visit, Box Services also managed, screened, tracked, repaired and controlled units throughout the "cycle".
 
Box Services and Commidea have been working together since 2004. Box Technologies' rental terminal fulfilment on behalf of Commidea commenced in 2006 on a rolling 3-year contract to service all of the UK. The main return on investment for Commidea is managing and fulfilling its service level agreements. Fulfilment rate is approximately 700 new rental units and 200 next-day swaps per month.
 
Partnering with Box Services allows Commidea to:
Streamline logistics and take full responsibility for installations
Provide a comprehensive support and repair service
Keep terminals and software up to date
Maintain an efficient and secure payment infrastructure
 
The Technology
The Ocius Vx670 operates on the mobile GPRS data network the Ocius Vx670 GPRS payment authorisation terminal enables the processing of card payment wherever there is mobile phone coverage. One of the smallest portable payment devices on the market, the size of the Ocius Vx670 GPRS terminal belies its processing power. Simple to use and robust enough for the most challenging environments, the terminal's long life battery will give up to 12 hours service, with in-vehicle charger available for energy top-ups. The Ocius Vx670 GPRS terminal is PCI PED compliant and operates across PCI DSS Level 1 compliant infrastructure, enabling chip & PIN card payment anywhere there is network coverage and authorisation takes just seconds. Rapid, reliable and highly secure, the Ocius Vx670 GPRS terminal is activated via password-protected log-in. As well as payments, phone (customer not present) transactions, print customisable receipts and integrates with a variety of value added services such as mobile vouchers, electronic, electronic mobile top-up and electronic gift cards.
 
Ocius Vx670 GPRS connects to the Commidea ICP data processing centre, a secure 24/7 service that swiftly processes over 1 million transactions a day. The ICP data centre and processes are fully compliant with the payment card industry regulations.
 
The main features of the Verifone Vx670 include:
Smallest wireless payment device to date
Large display with increased resolution
Large, well-placed, blue backlit keys
Quiet, fast thermal printer
Trouble-free, drop-in paper roll loading
Vertical mag-stripe card reader with contoured blade
Rounded corners and drop resistance to 3 ft.
Built-in security protections guard against fraud and misuse
Standard base for drop-and-go charging
 
The terminals were configured, deployed and managed by Box Technologies under the product line of Box Services.
 
Conclusion
"Commidea is one of the fastest growing electronic payment processing service providers in the UK, processing over 1 million highly secure electronic transactions every day, so we were delighted they chose to partner with us", said Gareth Aconley, Marketing Manager, Box Technologies. "Productivity and reliability go hand-in-hand, which is why we've worked extremely hard and successfully to provide the services Commidea needed to maintain a fully functional Chip and Pin solution at its customers' sites."
 
"The long standing business partnership with Box Services enables us to deliver complete integrated EPoS systems that add value to our customers", said Ian Rutland, Marketing Director, Commidea. "The partnership approach enables both Box Services and Commidea to benefit through the expertise that sits within both companies. Working with Box Services provides us with peace of mind and demonstrates to our customers that we take reliability of service very seriously."