Dutch mobile operator KPN is working with Elavon, a US payments processor, to provide additional enhanced connectivity for the latter’s GPRS-based point-of-sale service in Europe. The KPN M2M SIM service enables Elavon, which is owned by US bank Bancorp, to connect its terminals to the best available mobile network. The partners are currently working together in 32 European countries.

Traffic from the POS terminals is delivered to Elavon’s datacentre over KPN’s VPN infrastructure. The operator’s M2M service enables Elvavaon to choose the mobile network with the best coverage in an area, so improving the quality of service available to end-users. Possible applications include providing payments services at festivals where mobile coverage can be uneven between networks.  Elavon is a subsidiary of Bancorp which provides the virtual card used by Google in its US wallet service.