Innovation

Only by pursuing Innovation can you differentiate your company from others in the market. Innovation does not have to be new products or services but just a new way of doing business. Over his career in both telecommunication and the payment industry Nick Green has been involved in defining of working with innovative products and services. In telecommunication he developed new test equipment for telex circuits [telex? – it’s what we had before email; click here if you’re really interested] and designed and modified logic circuitry for the Northamptonshire Fire Brigade mobilisation system.

Early experiences within Barclaycard Business Research included Kiosk information systems that were superseded before they were launched by the explosive growth of the internet and more importantly with IC Card technology and products.

With years spent with the acquiring of transactions through point-of-sale terminals, Nick has developed a number of innovative ways of doing business or adding value to the existing business. He invented the technique for ordering stationery electronically using a point-of-sale terminal that was later patented by the company that developed the service for Barclaycard.

He designed the message structures and functionality for Dynamic Currency Conversion [DCC] for an offline terminal and months later went through the same process for an online terminal [something no one else had attempted]. Neither product made it to the market because the business case was marginal and DCC continues to be a niche product.

Example Innovation Projects

ISD Consultants are pleased to be working with the Pennies Foundation helping them develop a point of sale architecture that will enable the delivery of charitable donations using the existing point of sale infrastructure. Pennies have implemented initial projects with some retailers and now ISD Consultants are helping them deliver the functionlaity to the wider ‘bank owned’ point of sale estates. If you think you can help in delivering the Pennies Electronic Charity Box to the point of sale click here for more information on how you can join in.

Nick, in co-operation with Vodafone, is responsible for the development of the electronic mobile phone top-up concept and subsequent service. He was also responsible for designing and developing Barclaycard Business’ terminal application including the concept of terminal mail or ‘T’ mail the delivery of information messages to the retailer’s terminal in transaction responses to be printed out on the terminal.

ISD Consultants worked with Journeypay the leading supplier of payment terminals to the taxi and executive hire industry. Journeypay partnered with Ingenico to supply terminals to the Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxi organisation [HALT] with the intention of expanding their terminal base at Heathrow and at other airports. ISD Consultants developed with Ingenico a system that allowed payment transactions to be processed as ‘normal’ and for Management Information to be sent separately to an MI system removing the need for terminal re-certification. Unfortunately the JV between Journeypay and Ingenico was not concluded and the project was cancelled.

ISD Consultants worked with Abacus Solutions International for over six years to bring to market the innovative value added service of Lottery Entry to the point of sale using the retailer point of sale and the chip and PIN infrastructure. Abacus Solutions, with no previous experience of the point of sale environment, contracted ISD Consultants as Solutions Architects to define the point of sale application, communications protocols and transaction processing systems. Entering the Lottery environment is especially difficult because of the established players and the lack of innovation within the lottery industry beyond new games. Abacus Solutions International delivered a system to a lottery operator in Europe and continues to expand the market in Europe and the US.

PIN*Rate are another new company, with no previous experience of the point of sale environment, who have contracted ISD Consultants to assist in bringing their idea to market. ISD Consultants defined the point of sale and host system requirements and are working with EFT Solutions (UK) to develop the point of sale application on VeriFone terminals and with bxthree to develop the Host System.

Secure Electrans were going to introduce the ‘Greengage Energy Manager+’ an in-home energy management and payment gateway that shows consumers how to save money on their energy bills. ISD Consultants worked with secure electrans and solved the problem that was blocking their payment gateway from functioning to its maximum potential. The solution developed by ISD consultants would have had a major impact on the way consumers shop on-line and on ecommerce fraud prevention. Secure Electrans abandoned this project to developed a chip and PIN device for connection to consumer PCs that has never been brought to market.