Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Wednesday, May 15, 1996
Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Wednesday, May 15, 1996
The company, which makes and operates transaction verification equipment such as credit card readers, on Tuesday said that the system will provide a wider range of payment options to merchants who need to upgrade their electronic payment systems to accept the emerging smart cards. The new system is designed to operate with current VeriFone payment systems, VeriFone said.
Smart cards, used widely in Europe and Asia, contain an embedded microprocessor chip, in addition to the magnetic strip on most payment cards. That technology puts cash, debit and credit card information on a single card.
"VeriFone recognizes that a shift in consumer payment methods will evolve. ... Since the transition from magnetic stripe to smart card media will be a gradual process, payment systems must have the ability to support both types of cards," VeriFone said.
Founded in Hawaii and now headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., the company has a research and development facility on Oahu and a testing lab on the Big Island.
China lost no time firing back with its own target list of U.S. products, ranging from vegetable oils and telecommunications equipment to American movies in what was rapidly becoming a bitter trade dispute with neither side willing to back down.
The administration said the Chinese products would be subject to punitive tariffs of 100 percent or more starting on June 17. They would take effect barring agreement before then over U.S. demands that China do more to enforce a 1995 deal cracking down on rampant piracy U.S. businesses claim are costing them $2.3 billion annually.
Less than an hour after Barshefsky spoke in Washington, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade in Beijing announced its own sanctions list.
The Chinese did not announce a dollar amount of U.S. goods that were being targeted but said its sanctions would cover a variety of U.S. products. In addition, the official Xinhua News Agency said that the Chinese would suspend imports of American movies, television programs and compact disks and halt the processing of applications of American chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers to conduct joint-venture operations in China.
A comment period will give both countries a chance to resolve the dispute before the sanctions take effect.