Kookai Goes Live With Pin & Chip Integration

Kookai is to be one of the first high-street retailers to use the fully integrated EPOS and Chip & PIN system since introducing the trial of the new card payment process.

The project, valued in the region of £100,000, will see Anker Systems implement a Chip & PIN payment system at Kookai's store in Kensington High Street, followed by a complete roll-out to 27 stores across the country.

Currently a large percentage of Kookai's annual turnover is generated by credit card transactions, so it was seen as important that the retailer started using Chip & PIN technology well ahead of the January 2005 deadline for liability shift for credit card fraud from banks to retailers.

"As our key business partners in this project, both Anker and HSBC have been very supportive. They have fought the accreditation battles and done a lot of the legwork on our behalf which has freed up our time to focus on staff training and other IT matters," stated Peter Mila, II director at Kookai.

Kookai completed a Chip & PIN training programme for its management team in December 2003, with workshops held at various locations across the country in order to educate staff on Chip & PIN ahead of the go-live date. Mila further stated: "Those retailers that are not already well advanced in their preparations for Chip & PIN will now struggle to meet the January 2005 deadline."