easypay Central Payment System

Transcription

1 Standard Change Makers, Inc. easypay Central Payment System FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 3/19/2012

2 Q: What is an easypay Central Payment Kiosk? A: The easypay Central Payment System utilizes one or more individual Payment Kiosks, allowing Coin Laundry owners the ability to offer Alternative Payment methods to their Customers without eliminating the Coin acceptance in their laundry facilities. The easypay System works in conjunction with the Coin Mechs on the washers and dryers. easypay allows your Customers to start any washers or dryer in your store with Coins (redundant coin drop), Bills ($1 through $20 bills) and Credit Card (MasterCard, Visa, Discover or American Express). Q: What is an Alternative Payment System? A: In Coin Laundries, any method of payment other than Coins is considered an Alternative Payment System, or method. The easypay Payment Kiosk System would fall under this category. Most Coin Laundries work on a Cash only basis Quarters or Dollar Coins placed in a Coin Drop or Slide to start or operate a washer/dryer. Alternative Payment Systems allow Coin Laundry Owners the ability to accept different forms of payment such as Tokens, pre valued Mag stripe Cards, Smart Cards, Credit Cards, Bills, Mobile payment devices (smart phones), etc. Until now, Coin Laundry Owners have had to make the choice to be either Coin operated or Card operated. For Card operation, the Coin Mechs and Drops have been replaced with Card Readers. Those Card Readers process transactions by deducting value from a Card s pre loaded Card account, often communicating with a back end database utilized in a closed loop Card System. The appeal of these Card Systems has been the available reporting on the laundry usage and revenues, and elimination of Coin collections. Owners appreciate the convenience and reporting of Card Systems. However, Card Systems tend to have mixed results in most competitive laundry markets. Most studies now reveal that the introduction of Closed Loop Card Systems actually has a negative effect on overall store revenue. Also, many Customers have voiced their preference for Coin laundries over Card laundries. Q: What does an easypay System consist of? A: The easypay System consists of a few main components either one easypay Payment Kiosk or a Credit Card Only Terminal, or a combination of multiple Kiosks or Terminals throughout the store, and Interface Control Boards (ICB s). These Control Boards interface the Payment Kiosks or Credit Card Terminals directly to the laundry machines. The easypay System relies on a hard wired serial connection between the ICB s and the laundry machine s Coin Mechanism. There is no limit to the number of Payment Kiosks, Card Only Terminals or ICB s that can be configured, nor is there any limit to the number of machines that can be controlled by easypay. Page 2 of 11

3 Q: What are the benefits of easypay to me? 1. Reduced Coin Collections The more Customers use the Bill Acceptor and Credit Card swipe, the fewer quarters are used in the machines. Your Coin collection time is greatly reduced! By how much depends on store demographics, but several locations report an overall Coin reduction of 70 80%! 2. Bill Acceptance Rather than having to insert large quantities of quarters in the larger capacity washers or dryers, your Customers can now insert Bills in the Payment Kiosk s Bill Acceptor. This offers more convenience to your Customers, and don t forget how many quarters now do not have to be collected! 3. Hardwired Interface easypay uses hardwire connections rather than wireless, Wi Fi or Bluetooth. While these technologies are continuing to improve, they still experience signal interruptions from time to time, and occasionally the network must be reset. Hard wiring offers much greater reliability! 4. No Changes or Modifications to Your Equipment You do not need to drill any holes, mount any Card Readers, Card Swipes or additional LCD displays to your machines. If you desire, Customers can use your washers and dryers like they always have, or you can simply deactivate the Coin Mechs and block them off, all without removing them. 5. Redundant Coin Acceptance Benefit Coin jams can cause costly problems and down time on your machines. The easypay Payment Kiosk is equipped with a Coin Acceptor that can also accept Coins and start the washer or dryer just as if the Customer were putting Coins in the Coin Mech at the machine. 6. Credit Card Acceptance Credit and Debit Cards are growing in popularity among today s consumer. easypay allows you to accept Credit Cards without investing in expensive Card Readers required for every machine. 7. Cost Effective Solution Each easypay Payment Kiosk or Credit Card Only Terminal connects to an Interface Control Board (ICB). Each ICB can control up to sixteen (16) machines. For additional machines, you simply purchase additional Interface Control Board Kits. All ICB s and Payment Kiosks and/or Card Only Terminals are wired via a reliable daisy chain method so that any Kiosk or Terminal can operate any machine connected to the system. SAVES TIME. RELIABLE. MORE CONVENIENT. COST EFFECTIVE. Page 3 of 11

4 Q: How many machines can I operate with the easypay System? A: As many as you want! The easypay System is the most flexible System on the market today. Each Interface Control Board (ICB) can handle up to sixteen (16) machines. Each Payment Kiosk or Card Only Terminal requires a serial connection to its own ICB. The ICB s are all interfaced together. This allows any Kiosk or Card Terminal to communicate to any machine connected to the system. You can interface to as few as 1 16 machines, controlled by one Interface Control Board (ICB) and one easypay payment terminal. Or you could interface your entire store with any number of easypay Payment Kiosks or Card Only Terminal s and multiple ICB s. Each easypay Payment Kiosks or Card Only Terminal does require an ICB to connect to the easypay System. Q: How does the Customer use easypay? A: Customers choose which machines they desire to use, and load their laundry accordingly. After their clothes are loaded and the machine s door is closed, they go to any easypay Payment Kiosk or Credit Card Only Terminal. Instead of a trip to the Change Machine, they make a trip to the Kiosk or Terminal. Each machine connected to the easypay System has a decal with the easypay logo and a corresponding machine number the Customer uses to input in to the Payment Kiosk or Card Terminal. To start the payment process, the Customer simply touches the Kiosk s Touch Screen Display. This display then guides the Customer through the System s simple and very easy to understand process of selecting the machine(s) they want to start, and how they want to pay for the machine. Once the desired machine numbers are entered on the display, the cost of all selections are totaled and presented on the screen. The Customer then pays by inserting Coins in the Coin Acceptor, Bills in the Bill Acceptor or by swiping a valid Credit Card. Once payment is made in full, the required signals are sent from the Kiosk or Terminal to the ICB which then sends a signal to start the proper machine. It is just that simple. Customers love the ease of use, there is no need for lengthy directions, and people of any language can operate the system without difficulty or translation! Q: Isn t it confusing to make a Customer leave the machine to go to the kiosk? A: We have asked this question many times. The answer that most owners reveal is that it is no more confusing than walking over to a Change Machine, and walking back to the machines with change in their hands to then put them in the machine s Coin Mech. Page 4 of 11

5 Q: What if the Customer starts the wrong machine? A: Mistakes obviously happen be it Coin Systems, Card Systems or the easypay System. By using their Management Access Cards, the easypay Owner or Store Attendant (if authorized) has the ability to direct the easypay Kiosk or Card Terminal to start the correct machine at no charge (noted as a FREE VEND in the easypay Reporting feature). The Owner can easily check the DAILY TRANSACTION REPORT for the time and date stamp the wrong machine was started, and utilize this information as needed. We have found that although starting the wrong machines is a common perception of the system, it just doesn t occur all that frequently. In actual practice, if a Customer does inadvertently start the wrong machine, their learning curve is once! They will pay more attention the next time and do not make the same mistake twice they don t like to be inconvenienced by a mistake either! Q: Are there any prerequisites for the easypay System? A: Standard Change Makers requires the following for a laundry interested in the easypay system: 1. Cable or DSL High Speed Internet Connection (with a network router that is DHCP Server enabled). 2. Merchant Account for Credit Card Acceptance with Gravity Payments. 3. A Store Site Review Information about the store size, number of machines, equipment type and make, islands, electrical, etc. 4. Identify the Coin Drop Mechanisms in your equipment. Verify that they are low voltage (24/DC) Coin Drops. If not, send the information on manufacturer and model to Standard Change Makers, so we can investigate the proper wiring connections required. 5. All easypay products are sold through Authorized Distributors of Standard Change Maker s equipment. Standard will not sell easypay systems direct. The Distributor will provide valuable assistance in installing the easypay system in your store. Q: What is the cost of accepting credit cards via easypay? A: Credit Cards are processed by Gravity Payments, Seattle, WA. A fixed rate of Four (4.0) % is offered, and the program utilizes an Aggregated Transaction Process which eliminates multiple individual Transaction Fees! This Fixed Rate with Aggregated Transaction process is the first of its kind Fixed Rate offered in any industry. Traditional Transaction Fees can add up in a hurry and be prohibitive in our industry. There has always a concern as well regarding Credit Card Statements and how difficult it is to Page 5 of 11

6 understand them and pinpoint the true costs. With these points in mind, we have developed a program to address them. Here s how we do it. Simply put, all credit cards are authorized in real time when first used. All transactions then made by that card require no additional authorization when used within a four (4) hour time period. If that card is used a multiple number of times and where those transactions either do not exceed a $15.00 limit or the four (4) hour time period, all transactions are aggregated for a single $0.05 Authorization Fee + the flat 4% Transaction Fee! If that particular Card s usage exceeds $15.00, another Aggregated Transaction is started, incurring an additional $0.05 Authorization Fee (totaling $0.10 authorization fees for up to $30.00 in total charges). AMENDED Feb, 2012: Due to the recent passage of the Durbin Bill, Gravity Payment has been forced to establish a minimum $35.00 per month Transaction Fees. This equates to about $ required in credit card transactions/charges at your store in order to keep from paying the minimum Transaction Fee. Once you go over the $ per month in credit card charges, you are paying the flat 4% on the total amount charged. For more information about Gravity Payments, please visit their web site or contact them at: Gravity Payments 1434 Elliott Ave W, Ste C Seattle, WA Toll Free: Q: Are there any other vendors for processing Credit Cards via easypay? A: Not at this time. Q: How do these Rates compare to other Credit Card offerings for Card Systems? A: This rate is very competitive with other offerings in the industry for accepting Credit Cards. After you take into consideration all Monthly Service, Authorization or Access fees and Transaction fees the easypay offering is in line with other alternative payment systems used to start washers and dryers. Q: What Cards can I accept with the Gravity Payments Merchant Account? A: Gravity Payments provides Visa, MasterCard and Discover at the same competitive rate. Gravity can also process American Express, but there are higher fees associated with an American Express Merchant Account, and those fees are added to your monthly statement (Consult with Gravity Payments on the American Express fee structure). Page 6 of 11

7 Q: Is the easypay PCI DSS Compliant? A: Yes. Merchants accepting Credit Cards are required to be PCI DSS compliant (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). It is a mandate from Visa & MasterCard to their banking partners that helps protect cardholders from having their personal information stolen when using their Credit Card. With that said, there are certain components that do not have to be PA DSS Certified (Payment Application Data Security Standard). The easypay System does not store any transaction data when the card is swiped. Instead, it encrypts and sends the data immediately to the processor and it is stored there. Therefore, the System is within compliance. The encryption method and Gravity Payments have been PA DSS certified. Q: What can I do to prevent accepting stolen Credit Cards? A: On the first card swipe, easypay connects with the processor for an authorization of the Card. The authorization process checks to see if the Card number is a valid account with available balance, and not reported lost or stolen. If the Card is good, an approval or authorization number is created and sent to the terminal. While this is not a guarantee that you will not encounter charge backs from Visa and MasterCard, it is much safer than approving all cards without real time authorization (called BATCHING). Q: Why should I accept Credit Cards at my laundry? A: Ask yourself: How do YOU pay for most items you purchase at the drug store? The Grocery store? The Department store? Gas station? Do YOU pay with cash or Credit Card? Your Customers would prefer the same convenience! If YOU don t offer it, YOUR COMPETITOR S will! Let s start with the statistics that have been out there for a while now Visa and MasterCard have statistics that show most Consumers spend more per visit when paying for their purchases with Credit Card instead of Cash. They ll spend more money for additional services or upgrades when they use their Card. Many retail businesses report seeing a 12% 30% increase in revenue when they start accepting Credit Cards (a combination of spending more and attracting new customers). Credit Cards and Bank Debit Cards (where funds are withdrawn from a checking account) are continuing to grow in popularity. Credit Card usage among the younger demographics (18 34 years old) has steadily increased over the last 10 years. Even among the prime demographic (34 54 years old), there is an increased usage of Debit and Credit Cards over Cash. Therefore, the first answer to the question of Credit Card acceptance is that more people use Credit/Debit Cards to purchase just about everything. It has been stated that McDonald s (which also encompasses the same target market and matches about the same average transaction amount as most coin laundries) has been accepting Credit Cards since 2003, and they have claimed that 65% of its revenue comes through Credit Cards! That statistic may be somewhat exaggerated, but you get the point Credit Card payments are a significant percentage of their business! Page 7 of 11

8 With the growth of Credit Card usage, and the continuing increases in Alternative Payment Technology, it only stands to reason that Credit/Debit Card usage will continue to increase over Cash transactions, and the real question becomes: Can you afford to not accept Credit Cards at your laundry? Q: Is there any way to get lower transaction fees for Credit Card processing? A: All Merchant Agreements are different. Coin Laundries fall under the broad processing category of Micro Transactions. This means that the average transaction amount is consistently small (less than $15.00) in comparison to what you would see at a department store or grocery store. The cost to process these smaller transactions is therefore expensive by comparison for the Card Processors. Q: What happens if my Internet Connection goes down? A: If you lose your Internet Connection you will not be able to process Credit Cards or receive Transaction Summary Report via e mail until service is restored. However, your customers will still be able to use the easypay Kiosk for Bill Acceptance and as a redundant Coin Mechanism to your machines. Further, the coin drops on the machines still work. Customers can still use change and drop quarters in the machines (like the old days ) if the internet connection is lost. Q: What is the value of a redundant Coin Acceptor in the easypay? A: Many Owners reported that one of the most frustrating issues they deal with is jammed Coin Mechs, especially on their large capacity front load washers (55+ pound units) that may have $7.00 or more vend prices to start. They do not want to have those higher revenue producing machines out of service for a long period of time because of a Coin jam, so owners will make the trip to clear the jam as opposed to waiting until after the weekend, or when they could otherwise more conveniently attend to the problem. easypay can accept those Coins, just as if they were in front of the machine! This gives Owners more time to respond to the Coin jam, and can eliminate an emergency trip to the laundry. Q: How long does it take to install easypay? A: It depends on the location, number of machines being connected, how many Kiosks and Card Terminals are being installed, how the wiring must be run, and where the easypay ICB s are to be located around the store, etc. Standard Change Maker s will work with the distributor to identify the components needed to install, based on a customer submitted Store Site Review. Q: What is the Warranty for easypay products? A: The Limited Warranty for the easypay is One (1) Year from date of Installation for defects in material or craftsmanship in all components. Page 8 of 11

9 For Customers who purchase the easypay System within the first year of release of the product (June 2011 June 2012), Standard Change Maker s, Inc. will provide free software for System Feature upgrades as well as updates. In addition, Standard Change Maker s offers a First Year Advanced Replacement Program. If a Standard Service Technician deems a component is not working properly due to a defect, Standard will send out the replacement part (charged to the customer s credit card) with a UPS ARS tag. Once the defective part is returned for evaluation, Standard will issue a credit against the Credit Card charge. Q: Are there any annual fees associated with the easypay System? A: Yes. The first year is included with every easypay Kiosk or Card Terminal purchase. With the second year, Owners will be required to pay $180.00/per year for the first Payment Kiosk, and $25.00 per additional Kiosk or Card Terminal, all fees per store. These fees are for on going technical support, product upgrades and updates. These fees allows us to maintain continuous product development and software improvements, as well as maintain the support staff and training needed to provide technical assistance and superior Customer Service. It also covers the annual fee for the program that allows remote access to your unit. This remote access will allow our support technicians to better serve you when you are having problems with easypay. All Annual Service Contracts commence February 1st of each year, and can be charged by Credit Card. Units installed after February will be pro rated in the second year. In other words, a machine installed in June 2011 will get the first year of annual support at no charge. On Feb 1, 2012 the owner will be charged a pro rated amount for the second year of annual support (covering from July to January, months). Then in February, 2013 they will be charged the full annual fee. Q: If the easypay Kiosk is down, is my store down? A: No! Your laundry is still open for business. If any easypay Kiosk or Card Terminal goes out of service, the System will remain completely functional if there are additional Kiosks or Terminals installed. Q: Can I install my easypay Kiosk System at my store? A: Standard Change Maker s highly recommends that you work with a qualified distributor that has trained technicians with experience in the installation of either Card Systems or the easypay System. A full understanding of both the operational and technical specifications of the washer & dryer equipment and the Coin Drop Mechanism is paramount to a safe and efficient installation. There are some tricks to the trade that Qualified Service Technicians know that will prevent having to unnecessarily repair or replace Circuit Boards or Control Boards in the machines. If you do not know a Qualified Distributor, Standard Change Maker s can recommend a distributor for you. Page 9 of 11

10 Q: What kind of Power Requirements does the easypay System have? A: easypay works off 120 volt, 60 Hz. Power. Each Kiosk or Card Only Terminal should be connected to a dedicated 15 amp circuit, to avoid line noise or power surges. Each easypay Kiosk or Card Only Terminal consumes 0.5 amps when idle, and draws up to 1.5 amps with both Coin Hoppers operating at the same time. A Surge Suppressor for each Kiosk or Card Only Terminal is also highly recommended. Likewise, each Interface Control Board (ICB) will also require 120 volt, 60 Hz power. Each location for the Interface Control Board(s) must have a grounded 120 volt/60 Hz outlet within 5 feet of the board. Q: Is there a Card Reader or other device required for my Washers or Dryers for easypay? A: No. easypay does not utilize a Card Reader or other device at each machine. easypay simply taps into two wires that are connected between your Coin Drop and the control board of your washer or dryer. Dedicated Card Systems require an investment in Card Readers, Revalue Stations, back end computers or servers that maintain a database and help administer the System, etc. as well as a very expensive and continued purchase requirements for Customer Cards. These Card Systems can provide much data about your laundry s operation and can generate many reports to help you see trouble spots, maintenance requirements, etc. But, many Card Store Owners will tell you that Card Systems do not work well in all markets. Many Card Store Owners report that Customers do not like leaving the store with a balance of their money (known as the float ) on a plastic card even loyal Customers that return each week. Card Readers offer limited convenience but they aren t a good long term solution. And, they don t offer Bill Acceptance! The life expectancy of a Card Reader is about 4 years, depending on usage. That means very expensive replacement costs down the road. Furthermore, you have a large number of expensive components throughout the store that can be vandalized, or damaged with water, detergent, bleach or soap powders. What if they all need to be changed in the future when newer forms of credit payment technology are introduced? Q: Will easypay work with any Coin Drop? A: Yes. However, currently we will install easypay on machines that use LOW VOLTAGE, 24 volt/dc coin drops. These are available on most newer washer and dryer equipment. Older models of washers may use 110 volt/60 Hz or 220 volt/60 Hz coin drops. These HIGH VOLTAGE coin drops can not be connected directly to the easypay Interface Control Boards (ICB s). These coin drops require a relay board be installed between the coin drop wiring and the easypay ICB, which prevents the high voltage from flowing back to the ICB. High voltage can damage the easypay Interface Control Board! There will be an additional charge for this relay board, and additional installation time will be required on site when dealing with AC voltage coin drops. Page 10 of 11

11 Q: Does easypay work with my Coin Slides? A: easypay uses quarter pulses to activate the equipment. A Coin Slide does not send pulses. The preferred method is to use Mechanical Coin Drops. Coin Drops have the added advantage of allowing owners to easily adjust vend prices. Older Coin Slides should be replaced with newer Mechanical Coin Drops. However, Standard Change Makers, Inc. has partnered with Diversified Laundry Services (West Chester, PA). Diversified Laundry Services has a Relay device that must be wired between the coin drop and the Interface Control Board. This relay accepts the pulses, and then triggers the start of the washer. The Store Owner must contact Diversified Laundry Services directly for installation and support of the Coin Slide Relay. They can be contacted at: Diversified Laundry Services West Chester, PA PH: [email protected] Q: What kind of wire is used to connect easypay? A: Standard Change Makers recommends that you use 6 strand, shielded 18 gauge wire. We have also used 22 gauge wire it depends on the length of the run from the furthest machine to the Interface Control Board. The 18 gauge wire tends to handle these runs better. During Installation, we only use 2 strands of the wire. The other 4 strands are for future upgrades. Q: What are the dimensions of the easypay Kiosks & Terminals? A: The easypay configurations and dimensions are as follows: FRONT LOAD KIOSK: H x W x D FRONT LOAD BASE: H x W x D FRONT LOAD SIGN CAP: 7.25 H x W x D FRONT LOAD KIOSK TOTAL HEIGHT: H REAR LOAD KIOSK: H x W x D STAINLESS STEEL FACEPLATE: Extends 2 on all four sides of cabinet (30.00 H x W) CARD ONLY TERMINAL: H x W x D (angled) CARD SWIPE extends 1.25 from the face of the Stainless Steel enclosure Page 11 of 11