Pegasus Software Ltd, part of Pegasus Group Plc, the UK-based financial software company, is focusing on small independent UK retailers by partnering with Commidea Ltd, a card payment processing specialist, to provide a transaction processing package which automates the process from the moment of sale through to the banks which process the transactions. The information is routed through the back-office, enabling firms to manage sales, inventory and auditing, and offers a cheaper alternative to large financial applications from ERP vendors.
Pegasus will bundle its PayPoint electronic point of sale (EPOS) software with Commidea’s Soft-EFT (electronic funds transfer) and distribute the package through its own reselling division. Our target is the independent retailer with one to 30 branches, says David Cox, head of marketing services at Pegasus. Nicholas Fraser, general manager of Pegasus’ retail solutions division, said the price of the product will probably be between $240 and $320.
The deal may be the first in a series of partnerships between Pegasus and Commidea, a Maidstone, UK firm with links to the major UK transaction processing banks. Commidea’s Julian Weekes says that the two companies have had discussions, and said that he would like to see a relationship extended to the other Pegasus product areas.
Retailers who have links to any of these can sign up and have the system implemented in one day, according to the two companies. Banks offering the service include Barclays Merchant Services, Lloyd’s CardNet, Midland Card Services and the Cooperative Bank.
Commidea currently controls 10,000 EPOS installations in the UK, according to Weekes, and the market is huge, literally hundreds of thousands, he says. Fraser refers to the interest generated by Pegasus’s 30 resellers, a contract signed last week with UK mobile operator One 2 One, and systems installed in cathedrals in Chichester and Worcester. Pegasus will unveil the deal at the Retail Solutions conference that runs from May 25 to May 27 in Birmingham, UK.
