Since 2004 Hemisphere West Europe Ltd (HWE) have specialised in providing payment solutions to OEM’s and merchants. Originally involved in the bank note and coin acceptance environments, HWE has progressed to concentrate in acceptance of Credit / Debit card payments by providing hardware solutions in both the unattended and attended card present market. Find out more about us below.

HWE has a detailed knowledge of the card payment industry and provides a consultative approach to finding the best solutions for customers, we are experienced in the car parking, transportation, amusement, vending, retail, markets to name a few, if you need a credit or debit card payment solution, we can help you find the best options which is a strong point about us.

Having long standing relationships with payment hardware suppliers, payment gateways and acquiring partners enables us to offer industry insights not just manufacturer preferences as to the best solution for your application, no-one else offers the complete solution of hardware, payment gateway and acquirer choice.

Based in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, our business model is based on carrying extensive stocks of Ingenico, Miura, PAX, OTI, BBPOS and many other products in the cash acceptance market such as coin acceptors, bank note acceptors, bank note dispensers, passport readers and card dispensers. The key trait about us is that we are very experienced in all aspects of payments whether it be with a credit or debit card or with cash.

HWE are the UK’s only stockholding distributer for Ingenico, BBPOS, OTI & Thales Passport readers.

Our sister company Unattended Card Payments Inc (UCP) based in Las Vegas was set up in 2013 to enable and deliver on the transition to EMV card payments in the USA that HWE has much experience within UK & Europe. UCP Inc offers a full range of card payment devices and solutions for the North American market.

VERTICAL MARKETS IN SELF-SERVICE – some other key points about us.

Self-service solutions are increasingly popular as consumers are liking their efficiency and can see the benefits of less human-to-human contact in these health-conscious times. The team at HWE has the experience to help you choose the right payment solution for any self-service scenario.

Our experienced payment specialists can guide you to the right solution based on your unique needs. Below are some of the self-service market verticals in which we have helped companies find the best payment solution for them. 

Bill Payment

Telecommunication companies, utility companies, and national and local government agencies and many more have been implementing self-service bill pay kiosks for some years now. Service providers typically want to offer their customers a wide variety of ways to pay.

Credit or Debit card acceptance is a desirable and increasingly necessary feature in the bill pay kiosk market and is something about us that  we can offer advice and guidance on. No matter what your bill pay kiosk needs are, we have the industry knowhow and products to help you choose the right solution. 

Retail Automation / Vending

It is quite common now to find retail kiosks selling a variety of products, from iPods and earphones in airports and shopping malls to more traditional vending machines selling frozen yogurt, freshly baked pizzas, umbrellas, soft drinks or chocolate. Credit / Debit card payment acceptance is the most reliable means to enable a retail kiosk to take a payment without the possibility of someone adding a foreign body into the coin or banknote payment device and thereby causing a jam.

Being able to monitor sales and stocking levels is important, so choosing a solution with a robust reporting tool is also important, this is usually referred to as telemetry, the information provided will enable you to take informed decisions on your kiosk placement for instance. 

Parking

This is a mature market that has been using credit card payments for many years now, HWE is experienced in supplying some of the biggest OEM’s (original equipment manufacturers) of automated parking equipment in the UK / European market.

Our range of devices are suitable for card payment solutions at pay on foot and exit point machines. In parking special consideration must be given to features specific to the parking industry to ensure the correct payment solution is used. Features like tokenisation and offline authorisation capabilities of the terminal and payment software are key.

Electric Vehicle (EV) charging

Seen as a market that will grow exponentially in the coming years as governments promote the use of EV cars and penalise Petrol & Diesel car owners, the EV market is ready for open loop payments. Traditionally EV charging has been free to use (to encourage uptake), or payment has been taken via closed loop schemes where you have to pre-register to an individual scheme which of course does not suit all users, so we expect EV charging to grow in the forthcoming years and for payments to be open to all via credit or debit cards.

Event Ticketing 

Guest experience is at the top of the list when it comes to entertainment venues. Using kiosks to “queue bust ” and expedite a guest’s box office experience is a good way to ensure improved guest satisfaction. HWE offers payment software solutions with built-in support for unattended and attended terminals, making an ideal fit for a mixed-use scenario such as box office ticketing. 

Transportation 

Major cities around the world have automated their fare purchasing systems for some time now, London & New York are but two examples, with self-service in transportation comes harsh environments and the need for truly robust payment hardware. Transportation ticketing kiosks (TVM’s – transport vending machines) rank among the harshest environment self-service solution types in use, so choosing hardware with a good Ingress protection (IP) rating is important so one can see that when businesses talk about us, they’re talking about us as a knowledge resource!

Amusement

Having a small footprint payment device in an amusement environment can be an important requirement, space can be at a premium in these machines, think kiddy rides or pool tables where the transaction value is usually low, but space is limited, HWE can provide complete payment solutions, contactless only is often preferred for these situations.

Equipment Rentals

Self-service solutions have been gaining traction in the equipment rental market for years. DVD rental machines pioneered the idea of utilising kiosks to rent a variety of goods and services to customers. Now you can rent cars, lockers, sporting equipment, tools, and even swap out propane tanks using automated rental kiosks.

Tokenisation is an important feature for self-service rental companies to have in a payment integration. Using tokens, a company can bill for unplanned additional time equipment is out on rent, or for equipment that is not returned.

Retail

The retail market is by far the biggest use of card readers in the UK, often dominated by the major acquirers with monthly payment plans, Another trait about is is that HWE can offer alternatives solutions that provide multiple acquiring partners and maybe a better fit for merchants by providing more acquiring partners.

Mobile payments

HWE has teamed up with industry leading hardware manufacturers to offer solutions for handheld devices that can even incorporate a built-in printer to provide low-cost credit / debit card payment solutions that can be used with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or mobile cellular network connection, we would be happy to discuss what solutions would be best for your requirements.

e-Commerce

HWE can offer an e-commerce solution with our payment gateway partner so you can take credit / debit card payments without a physical payment device for web-based transactions.

Click here if you would like to contact us.