PLDT system to allow credit card deals, ATM in remote areas

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PLDT system to allow credit card deals, ATM in remote areas
Posted: 3:52 AM | Jun. 07, 2006
Daxim L. Lucas
Inquirer

RETAILERS and banks in the remotest areas of the country will soon be linked wirelessly through a new point-of-sale system of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) that uses cell sites instead of phone lines to transmit data, a company official said.

The new service will enable rural retailers to accept credit card payments and banks to operate automated teller machine (ATM) networks wirelessly, PLDT corporate business group head Eric Alberto said.

The product, called Shops Work UnPlugged, or SWUP (pronounced "swoop"), is meant to address the need of retailers and banks for real-time data communications, Alberto said.

It is part of the company's effort to diversify from its traditional mobile phone and landline products, he said.

Alberto said the service would provide retailers and banks with multiple branches an expanded network for real-time monitoring of critical data for their operations.

"SWUP is the first bundled solution that makes wireless cashier point-of-sale and wireless card terminals possible," he said in a statement. "Retailers will now be able reach out to a bigger market in areas where physical connections are unavailable."

"This solution can also expand the frontiers of banking since the technology can be used to come up with wireless ATMs," he added. "You can even have an ATM at the beach."

PLDT said the service is available in 99.57 percent of areas covered by its mobile phone unit Smart Communications Inc.

The network, using wireless terminals enabled with subscriber identity module (SIM) cards similar to those used in mobile phones, can transmit data at a rate of up to 170 kilobits per second (kbps).

This rate is "more than enough for simple data communications involving cashier point-of-sales, card swipe and ATM transactions," PLDT said.

SWUP comes in three variants: Naked SWUP, a SIM-only variant; SWUP Cash, which is SIM bundled with GPRS/EDGE modem; and SWUP Card, a point-of-sale service bundled with SIM.

PLDT corporate business solutions head Nerissa Ramos said SWUP would give retailers the flexibility to sell or position their stores without physical network limitations.

Apart from retailers, she envisions that the product may even be used by taxicabs and delivery boys.

"There is the security provided by the SIM and security inherent in Smart's GPRS/EDGE network where there is a dedicated Access Point Name assigned per company," Ramos said, explaining its security features. "It does not go through the Internet, thus protecting clients from viruses and hackers." With INQ7.net