TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Dec. 7, 2010) – GuestLogix Inc. (TSX:GXI), the world’s leading provider of onboard retail solutions to the airline and the passenger travel industry, today unveiled its new onboard retail technology platform at CARTES & IDentification in Paris. This comprehensive end-to-end payment industry compliant offering provides operators in the passenger travel industry with the ability to capture new sales and enhance the travel experience. GuestLogix is participating with Visa at CARTES to showcase contactless applications and new payment technologies in travel.
“Airlines and travel operators can no longer afford not to accept payments from travelers outside their home country or region. As one of the leading transaction processing firms for the travel industry, we have developed the first truly global solution that transcends borders, issuers, currencies and disparate payment platforms, to support the growth of onboard retail sales and revenues for operators everywhere,” says Mr. Tom Douramakos, President and CEO of GuestLogix.
New Applications for Rapidly Changing Industry
GuestLogix’ onboard retail technology platform encompasses a number of industry-first applications designed to create meaningful new ways for the passenger travel industry to connect with customers, and provide more opportunities to grow ancillary revenues. It begins by providing the tools to create, manage and control branded onboard stores with travel-relevant destination based products and services, followed by providing access to the onboard store in the booking path, at the airport, during flight, and at destination using dedicated point-of-sale systems and or personal electronics.
For example, the recently announced OnTouch™ Concierge mobile application for BlackBerry® smartphones allows airlines to provide their customers with access to their branded onboard stores via their BlackBerry® smartphone, where they can purchase a variety of goods and services including meals, movies, ground transportation, theatre tickets and gifts. Other innovations include OnTouch® Currency, an application that enables passengers to pre-pay with their credit cards and have their purchases fulfilled onboard, and the soon to be unveiled OnTouch™ Analytics, a new retail analysis tool designed to help airline and rail operators to effectively optimize the sales performance of their onboard stores and monetize more touch points with their passengers.
Ready to Transact in 2011
As the EU inches closer towards enforcing the use of Chip & PIN compliant terminals that support both magnetic stripe and EMV on January 1, 2011, GuestLogix has developed a certified Chip & PIN solution that allows operators in Europe to immediately transact, integrate and reconcile with any financial institution of the global banking system, in any currency. The company’s certifications also cover global standards including PCI, EMVCo, TQM, Contactless, and regional certifications covering North America, UK, Europe, Asia-Pac and Brazil.
The Future of Payments: Smart, Mobile and Contactless
GuestLogix recently launched the airline industry’s first handheld point-of-sale (POS) device that looks and behaves like a smartphone. The AVATA-m represents a departure from the traditional POS terminals currently in service with most airlines, and enables operators to maximize sales in their onboard stores as well as at other travel touch points such as the lounge or departure gate with contactless payment capability, as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and RFID connectivity.
Being unveiled at the CARTES conference are GuestLogix’ new contactless devices, the Mobile POS XPDA-S and XPDA-V, which are PCI PED 2.0 certified. With contactless becoming increasingly adopted as a more convenient and efficient payment method, GuestLogix has developed a payment platform that is central to expediting new onboard sales; operators can transact with their customers without the need for swiping cards, while reducing the risk of fraud. GuestLogix estimates that enabling travel operators to become contactless merchants results in a reduction in average processing time, and translates to an increase in onboard sales processing capacity.
Easier Transactions Equals Easier Sales
With an estimated EUR74.8 billion up for grabs in ancillary revenues over the next 2-3 years (according to Amadeus), enabling transactions and optimizing all available travel touch points is the future for the airline and passenger travel industries. GuestLogix’ onboard retail technology platform and payments solution do that by removing all barriers to transactions to create the most sales opportunities.
Leading Transaction Processor for the Travel Industry
“As the transaction processor to the global travel industry, we are continuing to create solutions that help airlines and other operators sustain profitable revenues through onboard and other ancillary sales – which have become increasingly strategic to the health and growth of the industry. The result of our latest innovation is a very comprehensive, forward-looking retail platform that allows these operators to transact like never before, in any payment medium; any payment method; any connectivity; any currency; any settlement bank; anywhere in the world. It truly is a first,” added Mr. Douramakos.
GuestLogix at CARTES with Visa – Booth 4J022
GuestLogix will join Visa at the CARTES & IDentification conference, Booth 4J022 from Tuesday December 7 to December 9, 2010 at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center, in Hall 4.
About GuestLogix
GuestLogix is the leading global provider of onboard store technology and merchandising, which helps airlines and other operators create, manage, and control onboard retail environments tailored to their needs and their passengers. Serving approximately 38% of the global airline passenger traffic, GuestLogix has become a trusted onboard transaction processing partner to airlines around the world. The Company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada and maintains sales and support facilities in the US, UK, Singapore, and South Korea. GuestLogix is publicly traded on The Toronto Stock Exchange (Symbol: GXI.T). More information is available at www.guestlogix.com.
© 2010 GuestLogix. All rights reserved. ®OnTouch is a trademark of GuestLogix Inc. and is registered in the United States and may be pending or registered in other countries. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes certain forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations, which involve risks and uncertainties associated with GuestLogix’ business and the environment in which the business operates. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking, including those identified by the expressions “anticipate”, “believe”, “plan”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intend”, and similar expressions to the extent they relate to the Company or its management. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but reflect GuestLogix’ current expectations regarding future results or events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations, including the matters discussed under “Risks and Uncertainties” in the Filing Statement filed on October 14, 2010 with the regulatory authorities. GuestLogix assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements.