Australia is responsible for a number of world-changing inventions, from Google Maps and the pacemaker to the black box flight recorder. We’re just as creative with our banking, superannuation and insurance, having invented the plastic bank notes many countries now use and the wi-fi we use for our online banking.
Every year, CANSTAR looks for the products being launched in the area of financial services to make our lives easier and more convenient. The products that CANSTAR judges to be the most innovative in their field are awarded a CANSTAR Innovation Award.
This year Commonwealth Bank has won a CANSTAR Innovation Award for its Albert payment functionality.
What is the product?
The name ‘Albert’ first popped up over 3 years ago, when the Commonwealth Bank announced it was working on a world first payment terminal called Albert to simplify merchant payment systems. They have now released this payment functionality in a tablet form, representing a significant and revolutionary upgrade on their existing payment terminals.
Albert is a 7” Android tablet device that accepts payments, scans vouchers, prints receipts, and has a customisable app store. Albert has a dual core processor and is connected to the internet via 3G or Wi-Fi, so he’s a speedy fellow. Over 21,000 Albert terminals are already in the market at the time of writing.
This innovation is trying to revolutionise the POS experience by making it customisable, with a new interface and apps on the Pi open source platform. Pi allows developers to create apps to enhance the POS experience for customers and help businesses gain valuable insights into sales data.
Some of the apps currently available on Albert’s Pi App Bank include a split bill facility, a loyalty program, daily customer demographic data insights, and a donations facility.
Standout features
- Accepts all payment types. Albert allows merchants to accept all payment types (chip, pin, NFC contactless, magnetic strip).
- Accessible. Albert’s system is accessible for blind or vision impaired customers.
- Secure. Albert is fully compliant with strict global security standards.
- Online. Albert is connected to the internet via 3G or Wi-Fi.
- Lightweight. Albert is a lightweight for an all-in-one device, weighing just 1kg. So carrying him around the stockroom floor all day is no hardship.
- Camera. The 8 megapixel camera can scan vouchers or coupons as well as QR codes, and can photograph receipts.
CANSTAR’s verdict…
This is world first in terms of POS systems, and it is currently being rolled out across Europe as well asAustralia. We look forward to making our first purchase in a store using an Albert.
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