BANM and FirstNet Expand Wireless Credit Card Verification Capabilities
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January 15, 1996
BELL ATLANTIC NYNEX MOBILE, FIRSTNET CORPORATION EXPAND
WIRELESS CREDIT CARD VERIFICATION CAPABILITY
>Media contacts: | Maggie Aloia Rohr (BANM) , 908-306-7757 Elizabeth Hubbard (FirstNet), 214-231-6655 x236 Heather Wietzel (CMI), 513-247-4213 |
BEDMINSTER, NJ -- Merchants in Pittsburgh; Connecticut; and New
York
City can now use FirstNet Corporation's AireTrans(sm) Transaction Air
Connect System service to perform secure wireless credit card
verification. These transactions take a fraction of the time of
standard landline verification.
The service is provided over Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile's AirBridge®
Packet network using cellular digital packet data (CDPD) technology.
With a Cincinnati Microwave Inc. (CMI) MC-DART® CDPD modem connected
to the AirBridge network, merchants using AireTrans service can
wirelessly send and receive information about credit limits or
approvals in less than six seconds. A typical landline connection may
take as long as 20 seconds. Unlike transmission over other wireless
options, the CDPD airlink is encrypted for data security.
AireTrans transaction fees are comparable to those using standard
landline, but without the monthly overhead of an installed telephone
line. A price schedule is available upon request from FirstNet.
AireTrans service is available through banks offering FirstNet
processing, or through selected independent sales organizations
(ISOs). AireTrans was first introduced in Washington, DC; Baltimore;
and northern New Jersey in June 1995.
AireTrans was developed by FirstNet Corporation, a GENSAR Holdings,
Inc. company, in the Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile Wireless Technology
Laboratory "Greenhouse" and then field-tested by merchants and
a team
of engineers from Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile, FirstNet, and CMI.
"Credit and debit card transaction processing applications have a
very
unique set of speed, security, price, and mobility requirements that
make CDPD the perfect solution," said Michael D. Franklin,
director-wireless data marketing at Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile.
"Whether the sale takes place in a traditional fixed retail location
or
a non-traditional mobile environment, we can now offer merchants a
very cost-effective wireless way to process the transaction. The card
swipe terminal tethered to a telephone line that is so commonplace
today will soon find a new home -- at the Smithsonian."
"This wireless technology offers FirstNet's merchants the
flexibility
to quickly process transactions from any site no matter how remote or
temporary. We are very pleased to join with Bell Atlantic NYNEX
Mobile to introduce this flexible product across the country," said
GENSAR's president Bipin Shah. "This product is in keeping with
GENSAR's philosophy of utilizing technological innovation to become
the industry leader in offering processing options for diversified
retail industries."
"I believe the speed, the secure nature of the transactions, as well
as the obvious mobile applications make AireTrans the solution of
choice for many retailers and service providers," said FirstNet's
president David Crockett.
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Note to editors: BELL ATLANTIC NYNEX Mobile,
headquartered in
Bedminster, NJ, is the largest wireless service provider on the East
Coast and the second largest provider in the United States. The
company offers a full range of wireless voice, data, and paging
communications solutions to its three million customers in the
Northeast, mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and, through a separate
subsidiary, in the Southwest. The company was formed in July 1995
through the combination of Bell Atlantic Mobile's and NYNEX Mobile's
cellular operations. The new company has more than 5,000 employees.Gensar Merchant Services, Inc., dba FirstNet, is a wholly owned
subsidiary of GENSAR Holding Inc., headquartered in Fort Washington,
PA. GENSAR Holding Inc. (formerly TransNet) has grown into a major
supplier of high quality point-of-sale processing. GENSAR provides
hundreds of customized solutions to banks, independent service
organizations, and major corporations with processing applications.
GENSAR solutions are known for their innovative approaches,
flexibility, and the ability to fully customize to suit customer
requirements.FirstNet is a quality supplier of general POS processing applications
and merchant accounting, settlement and fraud control services.
FirstNet and GENSAR Technologies Inc. are wholly-owned subsidiaries of
GENSAR Holdings, Inc.Cincinnati Microwave, Inc., based in Cincinnati, is a leading
manufacturer of electronic communications devices in the radio
frequency and microwave transmission spectrum. Cincinnati Microwave
manufactures high-frequency digital signal processing products for
many of the world's leading providers of consumer and commercial
electronics products, including Spread Spectrum Cordless Telephones
and modems for use with the Cellular Digital Packet Data network.####