Introduction
Silver Arrow Systems develop and manufacture innovative self-service kiosks that allow customers at airports and shopping centers to book and pay for private hire taxi and limo transport. The kiosks provide airline passengers and shoppers with the simplest way to arrange a ride, in partnership with Addison Lee, a leading premium private transportation provider. With no need to download an app or call a customer service centre, payment can be made by card directly on the kiosk, thanks to NMI’s unified commerce solutions.
The Challenge
At London Luton Airport, Addison Lee had a service desk manned by staff that were able to take bookings from customers, before directing them to a taxi rank outside the airport building. With the airport operating flights around the clock, it was impossible to cost-effectively maintain a 24-hour service, compromising customer service and losing revenue. To lower overhead costs and ensure customer needs were supported, Addison Lee needed a new way to securely accept payments in the case of Westfield London Shopping Centre, Addison Lee had no presence at the center, relying on customers downloading and using the Addison Lee app. They needed an in-person solution that was visually appealing, safe and secure.
How NMI Helped
At Westfield all bookings require payment by card at the kiosks before they are confirmed. At Luton Airport bookings can be paid for by card at the kiosks (65% of transactions), or booked at the kiosks and paid with cash in the car. The primary purpose of all the kiosks is for transactions, although there is a significant benefit to Addison Lee in their visual brand presence – the kiosks have large digital screens to promote from.
Specialist kiosk integrator Silver Arrow Systems identified the Ingenico “iSelf” unattended card readers and PIN Pad as being suitably robust and fitting for the new kiosks. They approached NMI to provide payment gateway services for the project. NMI has certified the iSelf devices with a range of U.K. and U.S. acquirers and bank processors, and provides ChipDNA, an easy-to-integrate software development kit (SDK) that controls all aspects of card payment transactions.
ChipDNA is a Windows or Linux component that runs on the PC, typically within the Kiosk. When requested to authorize a payment by the kiosk, ChipDNA initializes the card reader and controls user prompts on the PIN Pad display. Once the card has been inserted or tapped, ChipDNA securely encrypts the card data and sends it to NMI for bank authorization. Upon authorization, the kiosk confirms the taxi booking through an API to Addison Lee’s reservation system, and a receipt is issued to the customer.
The Results
In the first phase of the rollout, four kiosks went live in Addison Lee’s Luton Airport concession and two kiosks in the Westfield London shopping mall. Luton Airport kiosks receive over £7 million in bookings through them per year. There has been an estimated 4% increase in conversion from the journey quote and a 68% reduction in transaction time (now just 48 seconds) as opposed to the slower, staffed operation at Luton. After automating there was also a 70% reduction in operating costs for Addison Lee compared to the previously manned operation, and because queues are virtually eliminated, it lessens the chance of customers searching for alternative modes of transport.
Silver Arrow Systems Business Development Director, Sam Playfair, commented, “NMI’s responsiveness and support throughout our project was excellent. The ChipDNA integration was a critical path activity for us and thanks to their support team and account management we were able to implement, test and release our product without delay or issue.”
