BBS Denmark EPPs support Pay-Ease expansion into new markets

Source: ATM Marketplace - By Gary Wollenhaupt, Contributing Writer

To provide the high level of security and reliability for ATM functions and transactions that deployers require, Pay-Ease turned to BBS Denmark for its reliable encrypting PIN pads.

Thousands of consumers in 13 states rely on Direct General for auto insurance, life insurance, vehicle and travel protection and medical protection. Customers typically pay premiums by mail or at one of the more than 480 sales offices throughout Direct General’s service area. Beginning in March 2008, some of the company’s customers had another option: to make their premium payments at self-service kiosks.

Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., Direct General partnered with Pay-Ease LLC, a leader in self-service financial processing systems, to bring self-service bill payment to the insurance industry. In a pilot program, Direct General installed the Pay-Ease Automated Commerce Machine, or ACM, in six locations. Based on customer response, the program may be expanded to additional locations.

In addition to the standard ATM functions — accepting deposits, transferring funds and dispensing cash — PayEase’s ACM can accept bill payments and dispense prepaid/ stored-value cards.

Municipal authorities can use the ACM to accept parking-violation payments, dispense parking permits and renew driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations. For instance, Chicago’s EZ Pay stations allow residents to pay city water bills, fees for red-light tickets and other city expenses. Through February 2008, more than 20 kiosks were installed throughout the city, including at local colleges and O’Hare International and Chicago Midway airports. The city of Somerville, Mass., installed an ACM to accept payments for parking violations, adding convenience for its citizens.

Retail outlets can use the ACM to accept utility-bill payments, provide traditional ATM functions and dispense gift and phone cards. And university and college campuses can benefit from the distribution of library cards, parking permits and campus cards. The ACM also can process payments for meals, books and tuition.

With the one-stop-shop capability of the Pay-Ease ACM, organizations can provide services to a growing segment of society. It’s estimated that 20 percent of the population in the United States is considered to be “unbanked” or “underbanked.” These individuals may not have checking accounts or credit cards, and they typically live paycheck to paycheck. They transact their business in cash or pay their bills using money orders. Pay-Ease provides a unique alternative to serve this population.

While these individuals will typically travel to individual payment locations on a monthly basis to pay personal bills such as telephone, cable, water and electric, Pay-Ease offers a centralized location where these bills can be paid. At the current rate of growth, more than $80 billion in walk-in payments will be processed by 2009.

The problem
To provide the high level of security and reliability for ATM functions and the transactions that companies such as Direct General require, Pay-Ease had to source a reliable encrypting PIN pad that met or exceeded current security standards and offered the long life cycle necessary for deployment in high-traffic usage.

The solution
With support from reseller and consultant ArcaTech Systems, Pay-Ease selected BBS Denmark EPPs for the ACM. One of the models Pay-Ease installs is the INT1315-4240, which features a durable, stainless steel keyboard with etched and colored graphics that is watertight when installed properly. Pay-Ease relies on BBS Denmark’s EPPs for Triple-DES compliance and remote key loading. Use of the BBS Denmark EPPs raises the encryption security to ATM levels for all transactions, whether it’s actually required by the vendors.

Another level of security is derived from the introduction of Remote Key Load, or RKL, for BBS Denmark’s line of encrypting PIN pads or EPPs. This innovation allows a fully automated exchange of master keys for the triple digital encryption standard or TDES to maintain a high level of security while removing the need for human intervention to manually load encryption keys.

Standard manual key loading procedures call for two individual encryption keys to be typed into each ATM by two individual technicians. However, Remote Key Load eliminates the personnel and coordination costs required to maintain security. Initial upload of a key to a system equipped with RKL usually takes only a few seconds without human involvement at the machine.

The results
In addition to security and reliability, the BBS Denmark EPPs allow Pay-Ease to develop kiosks that meet guidelines set by the Americans with Disabilities Act for accessibility to blind and visually impaired users.

The Braille-equipped keypad is used for standard text and numeric entry, said Dean Scaros, president of Pay-Ease. “We’re expanding the usefulness of the kiosks to many users by making sure the kiosks are fully accessible to users with all types of disabilities,” he said. “This PIN pad is the way to do it.”

From the manufacturing perspective, Pay-Ease said it values the flexibility of the various PIN-pad models and sizes, which BBS Denmark provides, allowing kiosks to have different configurations for specific customer requirements.

As Pay-Ease expands its user base of ACMs to demanding users, the company will continue to rely on BBS Denmark for secure, durable and flexible encrypting PIN-pad solutions.