Cabcharge Australia, a pioneer in the
development of electronic payments in the taxi industry, is
embarking on the deployment of what it terms the “next generation”
of onboard payment systems which will replace its EFTPOS FAREWAY
System introduced in 2001.
Tasked with the upgrade is US payment systems
vendor VeriFone which will supply 20,000 of Vx 810 full-function
POS units in what it described as a multi-million dollar
contract.
VeriFone’s Vx 810 units featuring Chip and PIN,
Pen and PIN (a combination of signature and PIN), contactless
payment cards and will also support payments initiated from mobile
phones equipped with near field communications contactless payment
functionality. The roll out of the new system will commence in
October and be completed by December 2009.
Founded in 1976, Cabcharge’s payment service is
used by about 400 taxi companies nationwide, representing 18,000
taxis, or about 96 percent of all Australian taxis. The largest
taxi company in Australia, Taxis Combined, is owned by Cabcharge
which also provides its payment service to other transport
providers such as limousines and water taxis.
Processing more than 20 million transactions
annually, Cabcharge reported total fare revenues of A$540 million
($470 million) in the six months to 31 December 2007.
For VeriPhone the Cabcharge contract is another
in a series of similar projects that have included the supply of
electronic POS devices to all taxis in the US city of Philadelphia
in 2006.
This project was the first ever to facilitate
acceptance of contactless payments in US taxis.