Customer waiting time for refunds reduced by more than 75%
SINGAPORE, Nov. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Wincor Nixdorf, a global provider of IT solutions and services to banks and retailers, is providing kiosk technology to support an instant tax-back service to tourists in Singapore in partnership with Global Blue, a leader in tax refund services.
The deployment of the kiosks at Changi Airport in Singapore has reduced waiting time for tourists from as much as 20 minutes through the previous paper-based method to 5 minutes or significantly less by using the self-service technology.
At the point-of-sale in retail outlets, consumers purchase details are captured in an electronic refund system and tagged to a token, such as a credit card, making manual form filling redundant.
The previous paper-based refund required tourists to fill in application forms, submit the forms to Singapore Customs, get them stamped and then queue at different counters in the airport to claim the manual cash refund.
Tourists then use a passport and the designated token to retrieve records of purchase details at any of the 51 Wincor Nixdorf Fusion kiosks located at the airport and can choose to receive the Goods and Services Tax (GST) -- similar to Valued Added Tax (VAT) in other countries -- refunded instantly to a credit card account or returned in cash. Cash refunds are dispensed at a separate counter manually but located next to the kiosks.
Singapore is the first government to implement the electronic Tourist Refund Scheme (eTRS), which can link up multiple central refund agencies and independent retailers on a common platform to provide foreign travelers with a GST refund. More than 1400 retailers are participating in Singapore in Southeast Asia.
Several kiosks were deployed in May 2011 as part of an initial pilot programme. The self-service technology will potentially benefit millions of tourists visiting Singapore every year, based on Singapore Tourism Bureau international visitor arrivals figures of 11.6 million international visitors in 2010.
About Wincor Nixdorf:
Wincor Nixdorf is one of the world's leading providers of IT solutions and services to banks and retailers. The company is headquartered in Paderborn, Germany, and is publicly traded on the Frankfurt Securities & Stock Exchange. It has a global presence in more than 100 countries. For more information visit http://www.wincor.nixdorf.com
About Global Blue:
Global Blue is the expert in international shopping and spending. They help merchants and banks to build custom form international travellers and international travellers to get more from shopping and spending when abroad. For more information visit www.global-blue.com/corporate
