Cabbies welcome eftpos in their taxis

By PAUL BRISLEN

The entire Alert Taxis' Auckland fleet of 160 cabs is being outfitted with mobile eftpos terminals.

Drivers are reporting back with positive comments, says Alert Taxis director Robert Van Heiningen.

"One driver came in with a declined notification on a credit card that turned out to have been stolen. In the old days he'd have been stuck with the $75 bill for that."

The units, imported by eftpos Specialist, combine keypad, printer and cellular connection to Telecom's 027 network, in one unit.

"It sits next to the driver in a kind of holster and charges up from the car itself."

Eftpos Specialist director Martin Wilkes says mobile eftpos has been around for years but this particular unit works well.

"You don't want the taxi getting to the airport and having the driver fiddling around trying to make it go for ages. These just work."

Coverage in the greater Auckland area was an issue for the company in selecting a mobile terminal, said Van Heiningen.

"Coverage in the past few years has increased a lot and we don't anticipate drivers get out of coverage at all."

He said the terminals, which take credit cards as well as bank ATM cards, serve a dual purpose - they're easy to use and they're more secure.

"The cars carry less cash, the money goes straight to the account, so it's all good."

Wilkes said the Alert Taxis deal would be followed with 150 terminals installed for the Ellerslie Flower Show.