We have to understand what is being sold here. FirstData sells point of sale machines to merchants. I am no computer wizard, but I do have a slightly higher-than-average understanding of the payment card industry. I would be very surprised if SFOR was getting any money on a per-transaction basis, because that money is part of the interchange fee system . The networks, the issuing banks, and the acquiring banks are all VERY protective of the various fees charged when a customer swipes their card or inserts their chip. FirstData, as I understand it, is not involved in that transaction, other than providing the hardware and integrated software to allow the transaction to occur. I might be totally mistaken, but from what I understand, FirstData is paid on a subscription framework, meaning a given merchant leases the machine on their checkout counter, or they purchase a machine and pay a monthly subscription to keep their machine connected to the various Card networks, like Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, Discover, etc. SFOR may be getting a portion of those subscriptions, because it sounds like these point of sale machines will have SFOR EndpointLock software embedded in them from the factory (again, computers are not my area of expertise). However, I do not believe FirstData has any financial involvement in the actual swiping of a card, therefore I do not think FirstData would be making any per-transaction fee, and therefore could not be paying SFOR a percentage of a fee they are not getting. I am happy to get an education from someone more knowledgeable on this subject, but the information I have at the moment suggests SFOR is not getting a per-transaction fee. Total speculation on my part, but that is what makes sense to me, knowing what I know about Interchange fees.
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