London, 24 October 2019 PDMS, a market leading software solutions and services company and STS, a payments acceptance software specialist, have today announced a new strategic partnership that will deliver enhanced payments acceptance solutions for ferry and transportation operators. Merchants and consumers will benefit from an integrated mobile solution that supports Chip and PIN, contactless and NFC payments on-board ferries, at ticket offices and in environments without reliable telecommunication links. The joint solution delivers greater choice, an improved user experience, faster transaction times and strengthened security.
As part of the partnership, STS’s advanced G8 payments application, that separates payments processing logic from a point of sale application, has been integrated to the PDMS Compass ferry reservation and ticketing system. Ferry companies operating links to the Scottish highlands and islands, the Isle of Man, the Seychelles and the Bahamas, use the PDMS Compass solution, which incorporates over twenty years transportation experience. The joint solution connects to the Worldpay payment gateway as part of the earlier announced STS Worldpay travel and transportation strategic alliance.
“Consumers are looking for maximum choice and a reliable service when buying tickets, food, drinks and gifts before departure and during their journey. Equally, ancillary revenue streams are critical for ferry operators.” said David Stickland, Director at PDMS, “Payment preferences are undergoing rapid change and processing has become incredibly complex, that is why we are delighted to be partnering with such a highly respected payments specialist as STS.”
“Accepting payments on board ferries and cruise ships brings many new challenges not faced by high street retailers” said Steve Turner, CEO of STS. “These relate to infrastructure, communication and resilience issues as well as bespoke functionality. Off-line PIN verification, deferred authorisation, forced acceptance, transaction batch support, remote device management and international aspects related to multi country, currency and language all have to be delivered.”
The joint PDMS and STS solution uses Android tablets and Ingenico iSMP card readers. G8 is installed locally on the point of sale so that card payments can be accepted even if online connection to the acquirer is not possible. Security is strengthened by the inclusion of Point-to-Point Encryption reducing the opportunity for card details to be stolen by criminals.
About STS
STS is a leading payments acceptance application developer with unrivalled EMV expertise. Although the company is based in the UK, we have supplied over 150,000 merchant implementations located around the world across multiple industry sectors. We offer merchants independence from payment schemes, acquirers, gateways, PSPs and device manufacturers, thereby generating financial savings and maximising their payments flexibility and future choices.
We are a product-led company that invests heavily in developing high-quality payments acceptance applications and features in order to remain at the forefront of payments innovation. This started with EMV Chip and PIN payments in which we became a global market leader and now includes contactless, in-store mobile payments, payment cloud implementations and the management of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Our applications are designed to allow partners to establish competitive advantage. We have earned a reputation for trust, honesty and integrity by continually delivering high quality software and excellent support throughout our 21-year heritage.
About PDMS
PDMS’ Transport & Ticketing Division is focused on the development of ferry reservation and ticketing solutions, together with smart and mobile ticketing solutions for the wider transport sector. We have been working with both local and international ferry operators for over 25 years.
PDMS provides a wide range of software solutions and services. We provide a complete end to end service from consultancy, analysis and design through to development, ongoing support and managed hosting services.
Contact details:
Bing Dai, Chief Commercial Officer, STS
+44 (0)20 8680 0252