Technology >> CEO Interviews >> April 17, 2000

George Wallner – Hypercom Corporation (hyc)

GEORGE WALLNER founded Hypercom Corporation in 1978. He serves as President and Chief Executive Officer. In this capacity, Mr. Wallner is responsible for all business activities of the company, and directly responsible for overseeing Hypercom's research and development efforts. Mr. Wallner is widely regarded as the visionary behind the development of today's electronic transaction technologies. He has most recently been cited by The Nilson Report as one of the individuals with the greatest influence on the future of the smart card industry worldwide. Under Mr. Wallner's dynamic leadership, Hypercom' is today a global provider of end-to-end electronic payment solutions to nationally and internationally recognized banks, service providers, ISOs and major retailers in more than 70 countries. A renowned innovator, Mr. Wallner's insight and knowledge of technology and the marketplace have propelled Hypercom's landmark offerings, including advanced multi-functional point-of-sale terminals, peripherals and enterprise network products. Leveraging his 22 years of experience in transaction processing, Mr. Wallner has recently spearheaded the creation of Hypercom's comprehensive family of Ascendent front-end client/server payment and transaction software and Internet-based and e-commerce payment solutions. Mr. Wallner has also recently directed the development and introduction of Hypercom's interactive, consumer-operated ICE' (Interactive Consumer Environment) card acceptance terminal devices and the Hypercom FastPOS' 9600 bps modem technology. A sought-after keynote speaker, Mr. Wallner has addressed leading international conferences such as Smart Cards London, Cards Asia, Cartes Paris and ETA, to name just a few. He was the keynote speaker at the Secure Card and Commerce Tokyo 1999 Convention. Mr. Wallner is a member of the Electronic Funds Transfer Association, The Smart Card Forum, Financial Services Technologies Consortium and the Banking Industries Technology Association. Profile
TWST: Could we start out with an overview and history of Hypercom, just

to set the stage for our readers?

Mr. Wallner: Hypercom has been in business since 1978. The company

originally started