Technology returns VISA to Australian cabs - News - Communications

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Technology returns VISA to Australian cabs

By Vivienne Fisher, ZDNet Australia
February 07, 2002
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Technology-returns-VISA-to-Australian-cabs/0,130061791,120263352,00.htm

Within the next three weeks, taxi finance company Cabcharge is predicting its systems will once again be able to accept and process VISA card payments in Australian cabs.

Discussions between VISA and Cabcharge were finalised this week, and the software needed for the cards to be accepted in cabs around the country is being downloaded over the next two to three weeks.

A spokesperson for Cabcharge said the EFTPOS system which is used to process transactions is unique because of its mobility.

She said that Cabcharge had to program its existing system in order to accept payments from VISA cards. The finance company is hoping to complete this within the next two to three weeks.

According to the spokesperson, this ability would be rolled out geographically, and was already available in some regions.

Cabcharge estimates that its EFTPOS payment system is currently available in about 90 per cent of cabs Australia-wide.

The system was originally set up in the late 1990s in attempts to make the taxi industry safer for both drivers and passengers, through reducing the amount of cash cab drivers needed to carry with them.

Local taxis stopped accepting the world's most-used credit card brand several years ago following a dispute over transaction fees.