Enterprise Retail / Payments-as-a-Service (PaaS)

Spar UK

Verifone

Editorial Board

Spar UK

By Verifone

- Share

The Challenge

To provide a Payments-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution to overcome a multitude of payment challenges

SPAR had relied on older PIN pads to complete in-store card transactions. As these payment devices aged, consumers demanded more sophisticated payment methods

SPAR UK is one of the nation’s leading convenience/grocery stores, employing more than 50,000 people across its 2,400 locations. Established in 1957 with five founding wholesale members, SPAR is now the world’s largest international food retail chain, with 12,322 stores in 34 countries.

SPAR UK sought compliance with changing PCI standards and a need for better fraud protection methods. In addition, upgrades to existing EMV-enabled and PIN pad devices were required at regular intervals, which proved costly and highly inconvenient. As SPAR UK continued to grow in size, it was increasingly important to implement a cost-effective, future-proof solution that would provide increased security and quality of service.

2500

devices rolled out nationwide

To meet these requirements, SPAR UK chose Verifone’s PaaS VX 810 PIN pad for 2011’s initial rollout. SPAR UK has since migrated to the VX 820 terminal. An NFC/CTLS-enabled device, the VX 820 is integrated with PaaS for complete end-to-end card acceptance and transaction management, through Verifone's secure managed service platform.

SPAR has dramatically reduced the overall scope and cost of maintaining PCI DSS compliance.

PaaS bundles hardware, software, gateway services, end-to-end encryption, estate management, and value-added solutions into a comprehensive offering.

SPAR UK benefitted from VX 820’s PCI PTS 3.0 standards, which reduced the burden of PCI DSS compliance. As a convenience/grocery store operation, SPAR UK further benefitted from the device’s advertising platform capabilities, and how they featured on the unique 3.5” colour display screen.

Verifone’s VX 820 devices are now being rolled out to all SPAR UK locations—totalling over 2,500 payment devices nationwide. Along with streamlining payments and allowing stores to use the PaaS platform to drive customer recognition and loyalty, SPAR UK has also dramatically reduced the scope and cost of maintaining PCI DSS compliance, creating cost savings and improving its protection against fraud. Estate management and reporting tools are also crucial to SPAR UK, since the regional head office oversee all transactions. With Verifone’s solution, the head office can observe real-time trading patterns simply by accessing a customised web portal that, along with other functionality, provides thorough information on all payments data.