connect to merchant terminal

[jasonwood]

I know that Troi makes a plugin that allows you to communicate with serial devices (Mac or PC).

I also know that many Merchant Terminals (Credit Card/Debit Card processing) have RS232 Serial ports on the back.

I am wondering if anyone knows if you can use this to process credit cards from the computer screen...

eg: you swipe the card into a magnetic stripe reader, which activates a script which sends the data to the visa terminal, then takes back the result (authorization number or declination) to be stored in FileMaker.

This would be desireable for a number of reasons:

You only have to give the customer one slip of paper (rather than invoice+visa slip)

You have all the payment information in FileMaker, easy to find later if necessary.

You only enter the payment information once, reducing duplication errors.

If it is possible, does anyone know how difficult it would be to learn how to communicate with the device? is it something you can experiment with or would you require developer documentation from the bank? I am on a Mac and I have no experience talking to serial devices.

Thanks!!

[jasonwood]

I finally found some web pages on the topic...

What I am describing is often called "Integrated EFTPOS", "PC-EFTPOS", or "Integrated EFT System"... problem is all the web pages I have found are from the UK, and I think some things are a little different in Canada/US. The other problem is that I didn't find resources for developers, just stores.

Maybe there is a different name for this in Canada/US and that's why I can't find it online. Anybody know where I can learn more?

Thanks again.

--

Jason Wood

HeyWoody.com

[jasonwood]

The Banks here in Canada refered me to "Tender Retail" http://www.tender-retail.com

They are a company that makes software for developers to use to integrate their POS solutions with electronic payment (debit, credit, cheque (check) authorization, etc.)

...But they have no interest in working with the Mac. They suggested I would have to work with the banks directly and develop the drivers myself (yeahhhh right!)

[jasonwood]

I'm beginning to feel like I'm talking to myself here (I wonder why), but...

Does anybody know how the Apple Store's systems work? I know they use an electronic signature capture/electronic payment device...

http://www.atpos.com/about/111401.html

Which I assume is integrated with their POS software...

[jfmcel]

There is a mac based POS system available. Check out...

http://www.posim.net/pm_overview.html

[jasonwood]

I make my own POS software. I'm not looking to replace it... I'd just like to have credit/debit card processing integrated in the system, rather than having a separate merchant terminal from the bank.

Thanks anyways!

[SteveB]

Look at Waves in Motion...they have a product called CC::Authorize that processes credit card info without a terminal...maybe you can use it. www.wmotion.com

[jasonwood]

Thanks for pointing that out, I wasn't wasn't aware that there was ever a replacement for MacAuthorize after it was discontinued.

Unfortunately, I don't think this will work for me because it will not process debit transactions, and I'd rather do everything through one merchant terminal than have to deal with two places for transactions.

I guess I'll just have to wait for someone to develop a Mac interface.

[BobWeaver]

I think you really need to get hold of the technical info for an actual credit/debit card terminal that gives you all the protocol info for the serial port. If you have all that information, then you should be able to make it work. The companies that make the terminal should be happy to give you that. After all. it's another business opportunity for them.

[jasonwood]

Thanks Bob, you've given me some hope again.

I was at Swiss Chalet last night and I looked at their Merchant Terminal, and what do you know? There was a round port marked "RS-232"!

Now that's gotta be there for some reason!

I'm having some trouble figuring out who makes these things. When I ask the banks about POS integration, they refer me to "Tender Retail" which clearly doesn't want to help me! I'll try asking more specifically for the manufacturer of the terminal.

[jasonwood]

I called merchant services for one of the big banks here in Canada and they escalated me to "Merchant Direct" (for "advanced" technical assistance).

They did not know of any use for the RS-232 port.

It seems (as I suspected) that most if not all companies who integrate payment into their POS system are using other means (ie: NOT connecting through a regular merchant terminal). They have more sophiscticated hardware and software (eg: encrypted pinpad) that connect to a LAN or the Internet to process payment with the bank.

I have not given up hope! I will try other banks. If YOU ever see a merchant terminal with something plugged into the RS232 port, ask them what's at the other end... please? ;-)

[BobWeaver]

Generally, the really big merchants have all their checkouts tied into a network to process payments. And the really small businesses have a stand alone terminal connected to the phone line, but probably not to the cash register. I have seen some medium sized businesses like gas stations (where they only have one cash register) with the RS-232 port connected to the cash register.

There must be technical info available for tying it in, and I'm sure that you can make it work using a Filemaker serial plug-in. It's just a matter of getting hold of the technical data for the credit card terminal.

[tym]

Hi all,

I work with an Australian company that provides loyalty systems at point of sale. We are currently porting our software so it can be integrated with a number of POS systems via the PC-EFTPOS software from Ingenico (www.pceftpos.com). This is similar to the Tender Retail mentioned above.

A prospective client has indicated that he would like to use a Mac as his POS device. He has found the Paygo POS Software that is based on Filemaker Pro for the Mac or PC. As PC-EFTPOS is Active X based, I don't think it would be possible to provide an integrated solution if he is running the POS on the Mac.

However, there is a java version of PC-EFTPOS

[tym]

Whoops... forgot to mention that is anyone has answers to teh questions above, it might be best to email me at tym(at)ebsquared.com.au

Thanks