MWC Partners Integrate Worldpay from FIS and Cegid Retail

7 Jul 2021

MWC Partners have developed a new payment connector for Worldpay from FIS and Cegid Retail. The connector integrates Worldpay’s Integrated Payment Server, ‘IPS’ software, with Cegid Retail Y2 POS software.

MWC Partners’ relationship with Worldpay began in 2018, with the integration of Worldpay’s previous payment software, IPC2, to Cegid Retail Y2. Based on the successful delivery of that project, Worldpay were confident to again approach MWC Partners for their expertise in retail payment systems as they considered how to migrate IPC2 to a new technology platform that could offer retail and hospitality clients new functionality and new payment methods.

In 2019, Worldpay made the decision to change the architecture of their payment software to better manage device connections. Driven partly by the needs of hospitality, the aim was to make the software cloud-based so that mobile payment could be taken directly from a mobile Pin Entry Device (PED) connected to the cloud. Worldpay asked MWC Partners to assist in developing the requirements and design for their new Integrated Payment Server, ‘IPS’ software.

To facilitate talking to Worldpay’s cloud-based servers, Worldpay needed to change the method of communication. They chose to use web sockets and STOMP running over HTTPS. These technologies enable fully asynchronous communication over an enterprise network, so that the POS and the Integrated Payment Server can send messages independently of each other without the need to wait for acknowledgements. This approach allows intermediate progress and action messages for a transaction to be sent within a single secure session, such as ‘Insert Card’ or ‘Signature OK’? There is then a final response with the result of the transaction, and then the session can be closed. This approach opens the possibilities for more creative payment methods with more diverse dialogue.

Each POS is uniquely registered and has its own unique license key to secure the connection, so that if one device is compromised, others are unaffected. Worldpay chose to use HTTPS certificates, with a plan for these to be refreshed at least every 12 months. A key design consideration was how to manage the renewal of certificates installed across multiple distributed POS devices. MWC Partners advised that an automated rather than a manual process, using the credentials stored on the POS to request a new licence, would be needed to communicate with distributed devices around the world, rather than requiring manual intervention.

Worldpay’s IPS offers several deployment options, including local installation on the POS or other instore devices, as well as running the software in the cloud, over GPRS or the Internet. It also introduces new capabilities. For example, the integration allows for the PEDs to be ‘pooled’ and the till operator can select which available PED to use. This opens the possibilities for different store layouts from just having fixed till point to mobile POS with fixed paypoints, to mobile POS with mobile PEDS.

MWC Partners are experts in integrating retail payment systems. Contact us to see how we can help your next project.