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UK frozen food retailer chooses Tailwind's SafeBase for chip and PIN, as part of systems update

Farmfoods, UK frozen food retailer with headquarters in Scotland, has rolled out Tailwind Solutions’ SafeBase product across all its stores as part of its point-of-sale (PoS) systems upgrade.

SafeBase, part of Tailwind’s PoS Paddle product family, is a secure mounting solution for chip and PIN devices, to protect them from unnecessary wear and tear and theft by potential fraudsters.

Garry Knox, founding director at Tailwind said the product was proving very successful in major retail accounts internationally and now Farmfoods has taken on one of the first major product roll outs in the UK.

“Farmfoods confirmed the experience of other major retailers that the product is simple to install, simple to use and delivers enhanced protection of their assets, staff, customers and, ultimately, their reputation,” Knox said.

Making an impact in rapidly evolving market

Mark Haggerty, Farmfoods IT manager added: “I was impressed by the SafeBase and thought it had several advantages over other products. As the solution was simple to install, we were able to achieve a rapid rollout and immediately realise the benefit to both staff and, more importantly, to our customers; there’s also peace of mind in the SafeBase’s additional security and future-proofing features – the simple add-on option to move to contactless payment is of particular interest.”

Tailwind said it had several other big deals nearing completion, and was actively growing its network of resellers and distributors.

Jim Torrance, sales manager for Dacoll, who brokered the Farmfoods deal had great hopes for the product. He said: “Tailwind’s SafeBase is the kind of product that can open doors for Dacoll. It is simple and inexpensive, yet very innovative and my clients see the benefits it can bring to their business instantly. The team at Tailwind know the card payments market inside out and their ability to harness new ideas and technology to add value to retailers’ businesses makes them a very valuable partner

Tailwind and ViVOtech Team Up To Integrate New Contactless Payment Reader Modules into Legacy POS Systems

Cost-Effective Chip And PIN Hardware Upgrades Allow Retailers To Deliver Better, More Secure Customer Experience By Adding Contactless Payments To Existing POS Terminals

SANTA CLARA, California and DUNFERMLINE, FIFE, Scotland (27 October, 2009) — ViVOtech, the leader in near field communication (NFC) and contactless payment systems, and Tailwind, a leader in strategic marketing in the payments industry, have signed an agreement to develop and deploy joint solutions that will enable retailers to meet the demand for contactless payment systems. Tailwind and ViVOtech will integrate contactless payment readers into existing Chip and PIN devices using Tailwind’s patented “POS Paddle” universal Pin Pad mounting solution and ViVOtech’s best-selling ViVOpay line of contactless payment readers.

Having just invested in the mandatory upgrade to Chip & PIN, retailers are looking for ways to leverage this investment into the future by enabling them to accept contactless cards and NFC mobile phones. Tailwind’s PoS Paddle allows retailers to upgrade their existing Chip & PIN systems to accept contactless payments with minimum cost and disruption. The PoS Paddle integrates the ViVOpay contactless reader module with the Chip and PIN terminal, turning them into one single customer-facing unit and a single point of interaction. This saves valuable counter space. PoS Paddle is also fitted with a key lock to restrict the removal of the PIN Pad, a requirement that is becoming standard in most EMV countries in Europe.

“Retailers want to adopt contactless technology, but they also want to make sure they can leverage their investment in Chip and PIN devices, and give their customers an ergonomic and intuitive point of interaction,” said Garry Knox, Founding Director of Tailwind. “Our partnership with ViVOtech allows us to provide retailers with the best contactless payment modules directly integrated with their existing systems in one single package.”

The ViVOpay line of contactless payment readers is the best selling line of contactless reader products worldwide. The readers have been deployed in over half a million POS locations, including several Tier 1 merchants such as major specialty retailers, fast food restaurants (QSR), movie theaters, casual dining establishments, convenience stores, gas stations, drug stores, grocery stores, and thousands of buses, taxicabs, kiosks and vending machines.

“Contactless adoption by retailers is growing worldwide. That demand comes not only from the desire to accept easy and convenient contactless cards, but also from the desire to be ready for the upcoming NFC mobile payment revolution,” said Mohammad Khan, ViVOtech president and founder. “ViVOpay readers will enable existing Chip and PIN devices to accept not only contactless and NFC mobile payments, but also to offer advanced merchant loyalty programs such as mobile promotions, vouchers and rewards.”

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About ViVOtech ViVOtech (www.vivotech.com) is the market leader in Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile payments, promotions and over-the-air (OTA) provisioning infrastructure software, transaction management software, NFC smart posters, and contactless terminals. ViVOtech’s products are used by most prominent retailers all over the globe; the company has shipped over 500,000 contactless terminals to more than 35 countries. In 2009, ViVOtech received the prestigious Frost and Sullivan North American Smart Cards Product Line Strategy of the Year Award. ViVOtech’s investors include Citi, First Data Corporation, Motorola Ventures, NCR, and Nokia Growth Partners.

About Tailwind Tailwind (www.tailwind-solutions.co.uk) is a Strategic Marketing Consultancy that specializes in helping bring new products to market. Typically working with start-ups, OEMs and organizations wanting to enter new markets or develop new products, Tailwind has over 40 years combined experience in high-tech marketing, product management and business development, with specific expertise in card payments.