One room, one vision: supporting a leading acquirer to get the best from their payment ecosystem

In 2018 one of Japan’s largest acquirers contracted Ingenico to provide them with an all-in-one electronic cash register (ECR) integrated solution to replace the outdated modular system used by their tier-1 retailers.

As a leading provider of credit card services, the company offered credit cards for shopping, cashing activities and financing, as well as credit guarantees, franchise, third-party processing, and credit card trustee services. Ingenico supplied Lane 5000 and Move 5000 terminals and The Estate Manager (TEM) solution, so that the customer had a single device to accept all the available payment methods at a very competitive price, which included development and field support services.

The challenge

The acquirer wanted to launch the new system within an extremely short timeframe. After a one-day pilot in a single store, they launched the new Ingenico terminal system with their merchants across Japan. Soon after launch, the evolution of payment solutions required the development of new security standards and solutions. This fast became a challenge for the customer; they struggled to integrate the new product with electronic cash register (ECR), and by spring 2020 this resulted in widespread in-field technical issues, including duplicate payments and intermittent connection, as well as growing complaints from merchants.

Looking to alleviate the negative impacts on their business, the acquirer turned to Ingenico to provide the technical support they needed. Yet the vast numbers of merchants involved meant that, following normal protocols, the support level needed would have required Ingenico to double the size of their local R&D team in Tokyo. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, this was a move that would have taken considerable time and investment – time that the client and their customers did not have.

The solution

Focusing on offering the best added-value to the customer, our Tokyo office suggested using our dedicated Professional Services support team to ensure an open and collaborative approach to working through all the issues. The customer recognised that while this was a considerable new investment, it would offer a targeted and more efficient resolution of the difficulties in question.

Ingenico's Professional Services team started by creating an open office within the Tokyo office. The premise was that in this room they and the client would all work together to solve each issue and deliver a solution. The bank shared the details of all the implementation difficulties they had experienced, and put Ingenico directly in touch with its merchants to learn about their problems first hand. By instigating a three-way conversation between the acquirer, the merchants and Ingenico, problems were quickly identified and solved.

The outcome

The acquirer is now successfully deploying and selling-on the new hardware system across Japan, gaining trust and boosting its reputation due to the simplicity and success of the solution. Following the successful results of the new business model with Professional Services, the acquirer has taken the decision to keep collaborating with and retain Ingenico’s team to deliver fully dedicated technical resources for the second stage of its project. Together, the customer and Professional Services have built a relationship of openness and trust that is continuing to prove mutually beneficial.