Ingenico Makes Spending Money Easier

By George Walsh, Hacienda Network Staff Writer

New Software Development Facility in Hacienda Supports Electronic Funds Transfer for Point of Sale Transactions

Back in the old days, when spending money was not quite as convenient, we typically had the option of using cash or a check at places like grocery stores-adding the option of using our credit cards at major department stores. Now, dispensing money from our checking accounts or spending on credit is as easy as swiping a card through a slot on an electronic terminal and having payment transferred automatically at any point of sale-from convenience stores to gas stations to grocery stores. The technology used to enable these transactions is often made by recent Hacienda addition Ingenico, whose U.S. 8,400 square foot software development operation now houses 20 employees at 5673 West Las Positas Boulevard. Ingnenico moved into its Hacienda location in November of 2003.

"Our office specifically makes software for the products that our parent company makes in Atlanta Georgia," says Jerry Juhala, office manager for Ingenico's Pleasanton office. "Primarily, our job here is to build software for grocery stores like Costco, Kmart, and Safeway. We do the software relating to the transfer of funds from debit and credit cards. We also do software for the PIN pads made by our U.S. parent company." Ingenico's worldwide headquarters are located in France, employing 2,000 people, with a presence on every continent, managing 20 subsidiaries and working with 300 distributors around the world. Ingenico is also engaged in a large number of vertical markets and provides solutions for the monetary fund transaction requirements of business sectors that include health, transport, telecommunications, and ATMs. Ingenico also provides complete systems comprising hardware, software, and services, that are capable of integration in secure transaction scenarios including secure Internet transactions and business to business electronic commerce as well as services for retailers such as online purchasing.

"Ingenico is a French company with a very large presence in the United States," says Mike English, director of marketing and communications for Ingenico. "Our operations, which were called IVI Checkmate and based in Atlanta, were acquired by Ingenico two years ago. We provide electronic payment terminals and transaction payment solutions for retailers, financial institutions, government, healthcare, and transportation. We do business with many of the top retailers in the U.S." Currently Ingenico's most popular model is the eN -Touch 1000., a retail application that supports credit, debit, signature capture, and customer, graphics display. Optional applications can include a variety of advertising and custom applications. Ingenico has shipped over 300,000 eN -Touch 1000 terminals to major retailers for electronic signature capture and online debit PIN entry.

"The Pleasanton office is a very important one to Ingenico," English says. "That office provides the development and support of our store-level transaction management application. It's very key to our business. It supports the transactions made in some 25,000 stores. When you swipe your credit or debit card at a store, our operations are typically taking care of handling where the money comes from and where it goes."

Photo: Ingenico's equipment can be found at a variety of retailers across the country, including many Safeway stores.

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