Tomorrow’s point-of-sale terminals will be less than 10 inches wide and shun mag stripe readers, according to a prototype revealed by Diebold Nixdorf this week.
The company, which is headquartered in Ohio and Germany, said its “Extreme Self-Checkout Concept” terminals (pictured) can accept cards, cash and touch-free payments, and only read cards with EMV chips. The “Extreme ATM” terminals have integrated Bluetooth proximity technology so consumers can use Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices to authenticate and then tap their devices near the ATM to complete a transaction.
“By accepting cash, card and contactless payments, the Extreme Self-Checkout Concept enables retailers to meet the needs of today’s consumers while driving the future of connected commerce. Additionally, the concept’s extremely small footprint enables retailers to free up valuable floor space,” the company said in a release. “The addition of an EMV chip reader further eliminates the risk of card fraud by exclusively reading the card’s EMV chip versus the entire magnetic stripe.”
The terminals work with the company’s TPiSHOP mobile app, which allows consumers to scan items they want in the store and then complete the purchase process with their phones rather than stand in the checkout line.
The app also allows consumers to use retailer mobile apps for building lists, getting suggestions for navigating through stores quickly, receiving purchase recommendations and viewing advertisements, the company said.
“The flexibility of the concept enables retailers to offer a wide range of additional services to consumers in a self-service environment such as cash back, check cashing and bill pay services,” Diebold Nixdorf said.
The product launch this week comes less than six months after the completion of a merger between the North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold and Paderborn, Germany-based Wincor Nixdorf.
But it also comes at a time when EMV chip adoption continues to spread throughout the United States and replace magnetic stripe-based transactions.
Credit unions and other card issuers have flocked to EMV chips for member cards since the Oct. 1, 2015, EMV liability shift. After that deadline, retailers and other merchants became financially liable for counterfeit fraud losses associated with debit and credit cards that are present at the time of the transaction. A similar shift in fraud liability is set to occur at ATMs and gas pumps in October of 2020, though concerns about wireless skimming have surfaced around the country.
Diebold Nixdorf said it would unveil its new point-of-sale products at the National Retail Federation BIG Show next week in New York.
At last year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the company showcased a prototype ATM that has no PIN pad and no card reader. It was the product of a partnership between Diebold and iris authentication company Eyelock. Rather than swipe a card and enter a PIN, consumers sign into their banking apps on their phones or tablets and determine how much cash they want to take out. Consumers then go to the machine, which verifies their identities with QR, NFC or iris scans, and the ATM dispenses the cash.
