If you’ve ever been to the symphony or any concert with orchestral or art music you know that some of the most prominent roles are held by the feature soloists. Whether they are a violinist, flautist, cellist, vocalist or any other instrumentalist, the soloist is the featured performer and carries the melody, which tells the story of the piece that is being performed. In most cases, the soloist is backed up by the rest of the ensemble while they play or sing their part and the rest of the time are sitting or standing by politely waiting to be brilliant. The Ingenico iUC285 behaves in a very similar manner.
A market fit for Vantiv’s niche verticals
The iUC285 was introduced to the MercuryPay interface in the middle of 2016 to address the growing need for EMV 
All performers have their high and low notes and the iUC285 is no exception. It has built-in security features that make it virtually impossible to manipulate or tamper with. Its simple design makes it easy to install and implement when paired with Datacap’s dsiEMVUS solution. Being made available on the MercuryPay interface, it does not require any direct integration or separate EMV certifications, which saves developers time and money. Speaking of money, it is affordably priced at just about $500 (when you don’t have to pay a human being to attend a register that just about pays for itself after a month or so!) The iUC285 also has an ingress protection rating of 45, so while you may not be able to install it in an underwater SCUBA tank refilling station (patent pending), it is moderately weather resistant and can be installed in a number of outdoor environments.
Risky business or just business?
The iUC285 is ideal for most merchants operating in the unattended space, but convenience should be weighed against risk in the mysterious realm of EMV Cardholder Verification Method (CVM). There are currently two types of CVM’s – Signature and PIN. In the U.S., most EMV cards have been issued with the Signature CVM, although some have been issued with PIN CVM. This poses a problem for the iUC285, as it has neither a PIN pad nor a signature capture screen. Without the means to verify CVM the merchant opens themselves up for chargeback liability on EMV transactions. The card brands have made an allowance for transactions up to $25 to not require CVM checking, but anything beyond that is open to chargeback liability, which falls on the merchant.
This is no problem for applications that typically have low ticket items like quick-serve restaurants, car washes, and vending machines, but when it comes to verticals with typically higher average transactions like ticket sales, supermarkets, and sit-down restaurants, this handicap can be a risk too great, or at least a roadblock to navigate around. The lack of a PIN pad also keeps the iUC285 from being able to accept certain payment types like debit and EBT, which also limits the number of merchant environments into which it can be deployed.
A soloist backed by an ensemble
Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is essential for any performer to be able to excel. The best performers out there are the ones who know both and who play to their strengths and avoid situations that would tax their weaknesses. If you are interested in casting the iUC285, be sure to understand where it shines and when it is necessary to use the ensemble to create a masterpiece. This device is a great tool in the proper setting and can easily work well with other EMV certified devices to ensure the right use case for each merchant.
There are other unattended kiosk solutions available through the dsiEMVUS that have even more versatility and these options can be explored as well. Stay tuned to learn about the trio of the iSelf Series…
