St.George Bank and Worldsmart Technology Pty Ltd (WST) have teamed up to offer Queensland retailers a cutting edge smart card technology scheme to lure customers.
The scheme will initially see the installation of Visa Cash terminals in more than 50 Queensland outlets of the Giants Liquor and Jackpot Hotel groups with a planned 40,000 smart cards being issued to customers over coming months. The terminals allow funds to be loaded to the customer’s Visa Cash electronic purse either from a cheque or savings account or by cash provided to the merchant. The card can then be used to pay for goods and services at these retail outlets.
The new alliance will utilise WST’s successful loyalty program, e-asy points, with St.George supporting the Visa Cash electronic purse and providing EFTPOS terminals to accept the cards.
It is the first time that loyalty points, Visa Cash, multi-application smart cards, EFTPOS terminals, cash registers and the Internet have been combined to deliver an integrated and innovative solution at the point of sale for cardholders and merchants.
Customers redeem their e-asy points instantly at the participating outlets and merchants will have the flexibility of changing their points promotions at any time. This will involve dialling into a secure web site (www.e-asy.com.au) to set the amount of points they wish to offer.
St.George General Manager Electronic Solutions and Services, Mr Don Gregg, is excited about the development.
"We are looking to build on our experience with smart cards by partnering WST to offer a smart card solution that has real customer appeal and is a commercially sustainable proposition," Mr Gregg said.
"Unlike some cards from other competitors, the chips on these smart cards are functional. Customers can gain immediate rewards at the point of sale and have the convenience of utilising the value-added payment facility of Visa Cash, all on the same card."
