Australia’s CBA Outlines Global Plans for Albert

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has launched Albert, its new point-of-sale (POS) device, and said that it expects it to sell internationally in addition to tens of thousands of Australian restaurants, cafes and retail stores.

Albert is a wireless, seven-inch Android tablet with a touch screen, a secure Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) interface for accepting chip and PIN cards, technology to enable contactless payments, a receipt printer, and 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity. The bank predicts that it will change the way that Australian consumers and businesses pay, while providing CBA and its customers with richer data on consumer spending patterns.

CBA’s managing director of payments and cash management Gary Roach also confirmed the bank’s German technology partner Wincor Nixdorf would distribute the device internationally, creating a new revenue stream for the bank offshore.

“This is the start of a very exciting potential for that business,” he added. “There are much larger acquirers in the world than we are, and I know Wincor Nixdorf are having discussions.”

At home, Australian department store chain David Jones and Amalgamated Holdings, which owns Rydges Hotels and Event Cinemas, are among those already signed up to use Albert.

Comments are closed.