VeriFone’s ON THE SPOT Selected by Carey Hilliard’s

VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PAY), along with it’s point-of-sale partner MICROS Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MCRS), today announced that it has added Carey Hilliard’s, the popular BBQ and seafood restaurant chain, to the roster of restaurants using its ON THE SPOT payment solution. The seven store, Savannah-based restaurant chain launched the system at its Waters Avenue location, and has plans to deploy the technology into all locations. ON THE SPOT integrated solutions include a small handheld payment system that provides for credit and debit card acceptance at the point of service.

Carey Hilliard’s turned to the payment at the point of service platform for the restaurant’s busy curbside service, which can sometimes stretch to 25 cars. Servers wear the compact, wireless ON THE SPOT system at their hips as they deliver orders to waiting customers. Customers then swipe their own credit or debit cards to pay for their meals, cutting the number of steps needed to close out checks. It speeds up the entire payment process, freeing up server time and increasing table turns – in this case, it increases “car turns.”

“VeriFone, through its partnership with MICROS Systems, enables us to upgrade our promise of ‘good food, served fast’ to our loyal customers,” said Thom Richardson, assistant to the president, Carey Hilliard’s. “ON THE SPOT helps our servers maintain a high level of customer service, which includes a more secure form of card payment. It also integrates seamlessly with our existing MICROS POS system.”

“Carey Hilliard’s use of ON THE SPOT shows the versatility of our suite of products,” said Jeff Dumbrell, VeriFone senior vice president, North American Financial Group & Vertical Markets. “In today’s environment, payment at the point of service is more important than ever, as operators and patrons want security against identity theft. The additional value the product brings to an operator is greater operational efficiency and profitability as it relates to table turns, server time and processing fees.”

ON THE SPOT is designed to cut down on the increasingly common problem of credit card fraud and also allow restaurant operators to take advantage of lower-cost PIN debit payment. It has two main platforms – one, the Vx 670, allows at-the-table, curb or point of delivery payment for full-service family, casual and fine dining restaurants; and the other, the QX720, designed for use at drive-thru windows.

By allowing patrons to slide their own cards rather than handing them over to another person, ON THE SPOT helps cut down on “skimming,” an increasingly common practice in which a restaurant employee swipes the card through a special device that records its owner’s account information, which can then be used in identity theft. Just recently, a $3 million skimming ring was broken up in New York City, the latest in a series of high-profile rings discovered in recent years. TransUnion estimates that 70 percent of all skimming takes place in the restaurant environment.

The payment system also uses special encryption and other security features to protect all financial data transacted over a restaurant’s Wi-Fi network. These security features are a necessity today, with credit card fraud now the most common form of identity theft according to Federal Trade Commission statistics.

The use of payment at the table has been widespread in Europe where smart cards do not require online authorization. ON THE SPOT has pioneered the use of Wi-Fi and GPRS cellular communications to provide online payment authorization at the point of service in North American restaurants. With the addition of Carey Hilliard’s, VeriFone has deployed ON THE SPOT at more than 30 locations across the U.S.