Brown Thomas makes chip
and PIN local


22 Aug 2005

Department store Brown Thomas has become one of the first retailer in Ireland to allow overseas customers a choice to pay by credit card in their home currency in a chip and PIN environment.

“Research has shown that our overseas customers will react warmly to paying in their own currency and to the added security of chip and PIN,” explained Joe Rylands, head of IT at Brown Thomas.

Traditionally, overseas shoppers signed for purchases in the local Irish currency, the euro, and had to wait for a statement from their card issuing bank to learn how much they had spent in their own currency.

However, if shoppers opt for dynamic currency conversion they sign in their own currency. This gives shoppers the assurance that what the sign for is what will appear on their statement.

Collaborating with Fexco in the dynamic currency conversion service installation in Brown Thomas were till provider BT Expedite, electronic funds transfer provider Integral Computers and AIB.

The service is now operational in all seven Brown Thomas and BT2 stores nationwide. An extension of the service to Brown Thomas’ A:wear affiliate will follow shortly.

By John Kennedy