First Data Selects U.S. Wireless Data for Wireless Payment Solutions
- Synapse Provides Solution For Many Categories of Merchants -
MELVILLE, N.Y., Sept. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- First Data Merchant Services, a subsidiary of First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC - news), electronic commerce and payment services leader, today selected U.S. Wireless Data Inc. (USWD) (OTC Bulletin Board: USWDA - news), the leader in wireless payment solutions, to power its wireless credit card transactions. U.S. Wireless Data's Synapse(SM) platform will be available to more than two million existing merchant locations serviced by First Data's customers as well as new merchants in need of a wireless solution.
Synapse, formerly known as Wireless Express Payment Service, provides a seamless interface among wireless point-of-sale terminals, wireless carriers, and credit card transaction processors. It enables credit, debit, and other card transactions to be processed almost as fast as cash, without the cost and inconvenience of being tethered to telephone lines or electricity. Synapse provides both the speed and mobility needed to make card transactions practical for merchants such as taxis and limousines, delivery services, quick service restaurants, home maintenance and repair services, and outdoor facilities. It will enable First Data, which processed over 6.4 billion transactions in 1999 to expand its wireless offering in the U.S. and to provide new regions with wireless solutions, such as Canada and the Caribbean. First Data will have the option to provide Synapse's online real-time reporting capabilities to both wireless and traditional landline customers, with reports customized for First Data alliances. First Data Merchant Services will offer the Synapse solution across all distribution channels, including banks, ISOs, and other merchant acquirers.
``We chose U.S. Wireless Data because we want to expand our wireless presence and continue to make it as simple as possible for merchants to accept electronic payments. The Synapse solution offers access to multiple wireless carriers as well as innovative, customized reporting,'' said Steve VanFleet, senior vice president of product management and marketing, First Data Merchant Services. ``The Synapse solution opens new markets for FDMS and we are excited to add it, along with new wireless data network providers, to our suite of products.''
Through the arrangement with USWD, First Data Merchant Services will gain access to the Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) and Motient networks. Motient (http://www.motient.com) owns and operates an integrated terrestrial/satellite data-only network and provides a wide range of two-way mobile and Internet communications services principally to business-to-business customers and enterprises. Motient serves a variety of markets including mobile professionals, point of sale, telemetry, transportation, field service, and nationwide voice dispatch offering coverage to all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and hundreds of miles of U.S. coastal waters.
``We are thrilled to be providing First Data with solutions that will enable credit card acceptance in places people never imagined,'' said Dean M. Leavitt, chairman and CEO of U.S. Wireless Data. ``First Data's adoption of our Synapse host as one of their wireless platforms is a clear validation of USWD's state-of-the-art technology by one of the industry's leaders. We are also very excited about First Data's large international presence and the various ways in which this relationship will help us expand abroad.'' |
