On April 14, 1981, in Honolulu, Hawaii, William “Bill” Melton incorporated his new tech company. His original intention was to provide a recourse for retailers who’d been swindled by people handing out bad checks. His product was a kind of verification device using phone lines—a verification phone.

But he soon pivoted. The credit card industry was relatively new at the time and processing was still being done with carbon paper. Bill saw a way to reduce costs for companies like Visa and MasterCard, while capitalizing on his new technology. Instead of verifying checks, he would  provide local businesses a means to electronically process credit card payments. And thus, the Verifone payment device was born.

Now, Verifone is one of the world’s largest POS terminal vendors and a leading provider of payment and commerce solutions. We operate in more than 150 countries and employ nearly 6,000 people globally. Our steady growth has come organically, through a dedication to innovation and strategic partnerships, as well as from savvy acquisitions.

At the core of the Verifone payment ecosystem is our secure, scalable framework. Our commitment to open standards fosters global collaboration through innumerable channels. Our hardware and software architecture, in conjunction with new development tools, enable more efficient integration. And new partnerships with some of the most progressive companies in payments and commerce further drive innovation and expansion.

The true measure of our framework is the long-term value of the connected solutions we create. The result is a world-class platform capable of supporting the ingenuity that’s constantly shaping the future of commerce.

Our vision is to securely connect the devices within our payment ecosystem to cloud-based services whenever and wherever possible. Verifone's Commerce Platform enables two-way connected communications between merchants and consumers—POS systems can help grow sales and customer loyalty through targeted media, omnichannel experiences, and exciting new commerce solutions.

The path forward is in providing holistic payment solutions for businesses large and small. With the Verifone Merchant Marketplace, we can provide new and innovative applications for the POS. With Developer Central, we can open our devices up to a world of third-party developers and foster creative new apps. With VHQ, we can make estate management simpler, faster, and more cost-effective than ever before. And these are just a few examples of the solutions Verifone currently provides.

Innovations in media on terminals, pay-with-points, beacon networks, and card-linked offers are just a sampling of new commerce-enabling applications we are excited about.