With the development of First Data's EFSnet Web Payment Services platform, merchants can now take advantage of Internet access as an evolutionary, state-of-the-art communication avenue for both POS and e-commerce payments, processing directly on First Data platforms.

EFSnet's Web Payment Service leverages the many benefits associated with Internet communications, including low-cost, high-speed, high-scalability, global-accessibility, and multi-use capability. In addition, Internet standards such as HTTPS, SOAP, and XML allow for development of EFSnet compatible applications using standard development tools, methods, and languages. Where it can takes weeks and months to develop and certify solutions into dial, lease-line and frame connections, it now takes just days and hours using EFSnet's SOAP, XML, or CGI interfaces.

The advantages realized by processing directly over the Internet using EFSnet has resulted in immediate acceptance by both large and small merchants, particularly in the quick-serve marketplace. Fully-integrated, plug-n-play, SSL-ready-terminals are now available for "always-connected" high-speed (2-3 seconds) processing at the point-of-sale. The first such terminal (available now) is the Ingenico 3100. Additional terminal manufacturers are now developing and certifying IP-Terminals with EFSnet. This marks a significant point in the history of transaction processing where dial-up terminals, lease-line, and frame-relay solutions have begun to be supplanted by Internet based solutions using EFSnet.