Poynt Introduces World's First Smart Payment Terminal

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - October 29, 2014) - Poynt Co. today unveiled the world's first "smart" payment terminal, doing for businesses what smartphones did for consumers. It brings the unlimited versatility of a mobile device to a future-proof payment terminal at a price that any merchant can afford. Designed to meet the highest PCI and EMV requirements as well as connect to any merchant bank, the Poynt Smart Terminal is available as millions of merchants are forced to replace their existing devices by October of 2015 due to the EMV mandate.

"Consumers carry connected supercomputers in their pockets while in-store technology still centers around a glorified calculator," said Poynt founder and CEO, Osama Bedier, former head of Google Wallet and long-time PayPal senior executive. "Solving for that disparity, we borrowed from the best in mobile technology to make the payment terminal smart and help small businesses rise to meet growing consumer expectations. With Poynt, merchants can also say, 'There's an app for that!'"

The Payment Terminal Reimagined
Poynt reimagines the traditional payment terminal as a smart, multipurpose device. It features a dual touchscreen design that combines a 7" merchant-facing screen, a second 4.3" customer-facing screen, printer, barcode scanner and wireless connectivity into a single package.

• Simple and future proof: While current payment terminals typically support one or two payment methods, the Poynt Smart Terminal has traditional cards, EMV (chip and PIN), NFC (Apple Pay and Google Wallet), Bluetooth and QR code built into one device. Thanks to these payment technologies, regardless of how consumers may pay in the future, merchants are ready to accept without spending money on additional hardware.
• Advanced security: The device utilizes the latest security technologies (TLS, DUKPT, 3DES, PKI and AES) to secure all sensitive payment data meeting the highest PCI and EMV requirements. End-to-end encryption means merchants are never at risk for exposing their customer's information. With 24/7 fraud and tamper detection, the Smart Terminal alerts merchants of any future risk.
• Continuous improvements: Because the Smart Terminal is always connected it can securely self update via the Internet without the need for an expensive technician. Whether keeping up with payment network requirements, security enhancements or application updates, merchants can rest assured that their device always has the latest and most secure technology.
• Seamless start: Unlike other payment terminals, the Smart Terminal works out of the box with a merchant's existing setup. The device works with any bank, and merchants don't have to change out their cash boxes, replace printers or buy expensive new scanners. It can integrate directly into existing solutions allowing for a simple and seamless transition to the new, more powerful platform.

PoyntOS and an Open Platform
Despite a tsunami of great local-commerce innovations over the past few years, most struggle to get broad adoption. This is due to a misalignment of interests between tech innovators and the banks who distribute payment devices. With the PoyntOS, developers can now integrate and distribute their products and services on the same devices that banks distribute to millions of merchants. Thanks to the talent and creativity of third-party developers, Poynt will soon bring merchants the tools and technology to manage every facet of their business without having to purchase additional hardware. 

Poynt is proud to announce its founding developer partners -- Vend, Kabbage, Swarm, Boomtown, Bigcommerce and Intuit. These companies helped define and leverage the PoyntOS to build complementary solutions for this ecosystem. Today Poynt extends that same capability to all developers. The SDK is available here.

"Vend's collaboration with Poynt opens up a tremendous opportunity for both companies," said Vaughan Rowsell, CEO at Vend. "With this smart terminal, merchants can run their stores using Vend's retail software without investing in additional hardware. Poynt adds exciting new capabilities for merchants along with a simple experience for them and their customers -- all from a single, beautiful device."

Who's Behind Poynt
Poynt was founded by a talented team with experience in payments, mobile, and commerce honed at companies including PayPal, eBay, Google, Amazon, Apple, Hypercom and Verifone. Poynt is also backed by seasoned investors and payments experts led by Matrix Partners and including Webb Investment Network, founded by Visa board member Maynard Webb, and Nyca Partners, founded by former Visa President Hans Morris.

"Poynt is an absolute game changer," said Dana Stalder, general partner at Matrix Partners and former SVP at PayPal. "This device delivers safe and seamless payment technology with a dramatically improved customer experience. On top of that, Apple and Google have proven that there is a $100bn+ and growing market for consumer applications. When you consider the opportunities Poynt makes available to all merchants in terms of making their businesses smarter and more consumer friendly, we believe Poynt's potential is limitless."

Available for Pre-order
The Poynt Smart Terminal is available for pre-order at $299 and will begin shipping to merchants in early 2015. Developers can pre-order a developer kit shipping later this year for $499.

To learn more about what makes the Poynt Smart Terminal such an essential device, read Osama's blog post.

About Poynt
Poynt has reimagined the payment terminal as a smart, multipurpose device. With the Smart Payment Terminal and PoyntOS, Poynt helps any business access incredible technology at an affordable price. Founded in 2013 by Google and PayPal veteran Osama Bedier, Poynt is headquartered in Palo Alto, California and is backed by Matrix Partners, Webb Investment Network, Nyca Partners, Google Ventures and other individual investors. Find out more at www.getpoynt.com.

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