As Best Buy Tries Bill-Pay Kiosks, TIO Hopes for Big Expansion

A 35-store deployment at Best Buy Co. Inc., announced late last week, could be the start of a major breakthrough in bill-payment kiosks for TIO Networks Corp. The Vancouver, B.C.-based processor says the machines, which have been live for about four months in a four-market trial in the Atlanta, Las Vegas, Miami, and Phoenix areas, have been performing well so far. “The trial exceeded our expectations,” says John Lewis, business development executive for TIO. “We feel very positive about it.” Lewis won't disclose transaction numbers and notes the trial is open-ended, but adds that “the idea would be to expand” the deployment chainwide. Richfield, Minn.-based Best Buy, which operates more than 1,000 stores, did not return a call asking for comment. If Best Buy were to adopt the machines chainwide, the deployment would balloon TIO's expected installed base by about 50%, according to Lewis. The company currently has about 1,400 kiosks installed in places like Circle K and Exxon Mobile convenience stores, up from around 1,000 a year ago. It expects that number to climb to 2,000 in the next six months, Lewis says. “Best Buy would take it to 3,000,” he notes. “This would be a big deployment, totally manageable, but big.” The TIO kiosks allow customers to pay bills electronically with either cash or a debit card. Customers can also make same-day payments on bills. TIO's switch has direct connections with 30 mobile, landline, utility, and cable companies, allowing for fast account updates once payments are logged. In Best Buy's case, customers who buy mobile phones at the electronics giant's stores can go back to use the kiosks to pay their wireless bills. “Best Buy is one of the biggest retailers of mobile phones in the U.S.,” notes Lewis. “They feel it's a natural fit.” Lewis argues the kiosks also help merchants build foot traffic and create a revenue stream, as the retailers share in bill-payment fees. For Best Buy, the machines could also give customers another reason to shop at a store. Many consumers regard Best Buy as the place to go only when they've decided on a major purchase, such as a flat-screen TV or game console, says Sean M. Alexander, technology analyst at IHL Group, a consulting firm in Franklin, Tenn. The kiosks “provide them with an opportunity to be not just a destination store for big-ticket purchases,” he tells Digital Transactions News. Alexander says the chances are good for a chainwide rollout if the machines' performance meets expectations. Alexander adds that the kiosks also allow Best Buy to tap into two customer segments?those who prefer to pay with cash or debit cards and those who don't have Internet access to pay bills or don't want to pay bills online. The deployment “hedges their bets,” he says with both consumer groups. The use of both cash and debit cards has risen dramatically since the onset of the recession, which was ushered in with a severe credit crunch that restricted the ability of many consumers to get or use credit cards. Indeed, the recession has paid dividends so far for TIO, Lewis says. “It's phenomenal how many retailers are looking at kiosks again,” he says. “It's gone the other way [from the economy]. With kiosks, you can get [customers] in the store, and if you can get them in the store, good things can happen. Maybe they'll get interested in a flat-screen TV.”