GREENSBORO, NC, March 31, 2003–Gilbarco Veeder-Root, http://www.gilbarco.com, retrofitted the nation’s first gasoline dispensers to accept MasterCard® PayPass “contactless” payment cards in late February. Working with MasterCard, Chevron, and Panasonic, the first four sites now accept the new MasterCard payment card that eliminates the need for swiping the card through a reader. Consumers simply tap or wave their payment card at the reader.

MasterCard PayPass cards contain a microchip that uses radio frequency (RF) technology to wirelessly transmit account information. The cards and readers are compliant with the global standard ISO 14443.

Gilbarco Veeder-Root designed retrofit kits for The Advantage dispensers for use with PayPass cards. The kits have an RF antenna, which sends a signal that provides power for the card’s chip to transmit account information. The information is received by a contactless Panasonic reader unit that converts the data into conventional magnetic stripe format. The dispensers are able to process transactions using conventional payment cards as well as cards with the PayPass enhancement.

“MasterCard PayPass delivers convenience and faster transaction time to merchants and consumers.” said Joan Hennessey, VP e-Business, MasterCard International. “Gilbarco Veeder-Root has been very supportive of our goals for a global, interoperable solution with minimal implementation effort for the merchant. Our installations went very smoothly.”

“Working with MasterCard, we have been able to further our offering in cashless payment solutions for consumers,” said Chris Whitley, director for POS marketing at Gilbarco Veeder-Root. “Merchants will appreciate that the system works with existing Gilbarco G-SITE® and Passport® point of sale systems with no changes to the application software. In addition, no infrastructure changes are required at the card-processing network.”