VeriFone Holdings Inc. said Monday it has acquired the taxi advertising business of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc.
VeriFone, which provides electronic payment services, said the deal gives it 5,000 screens to sell advertising on in New York City cabs, adding to its network already of 6,500 screens.
The company did not release financial details of the acquisition. It said the deal will not be material to its financial results this year.
VeriFone shares rose 49 cents, or 3 percent, to $16.87 in morning trading, while Clear Channel rose 11 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $10.50.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Cabster 01.04.10 at 6:25 pm
Maybe they are going to buy Yellowcabnyc.com next and take over the whole industry..
Charles Taxi 01.17.10 at 10:39 pm
None of the credit card systems, GPS, and accompanying contraptions were needed for credit card acceptance. It was all about how to FORCE an industry to install equipment that is designed to take money from the driver’s hand and place it into the hands of outside interests. A good court fight would have prevented this. We hear that the 17,000 NYC yellow cabs are mostly owned by rich rental garages. And these garage owners do not drive taxis. Likely they were bought off easy by the vendors who wanted to force advertising into taxis for $ millions of dollars profit with an advertising cut shared by the rental garages. No doubt rental garages were also given a percentage of the credit card processing fees. $ millions. It was a way to take more money out of the drivers’ hands than the shift rental price. It took greedy bankers and advertisers to concoct the scheme they knew would be accepted by NYC rental garages (most of NYC medallsions) because of the advertising and credit card processing fee cuts they were likely given. The two vendors VeriFone Transportation Systems (VTS) and Creative Mobile Technologies (CMT) who sold and installed these contraptions knew precisely how to buy out the rental garage owners, who were going to get money, and the money to fund all this $ multimillion dollar parasite upon the NYC cab drivers, was going to come right out of the cab drivers’ hands. The money that was targeted for these multi-million dollar deals created b y the bankers/advertisers was to come from the poor cab driver’s daily income. A clever way for the bankers/advertisers to grab the thin gravy if there is any left over from a cab driver’s daily income. Remember, 5% of gross, is 15% of net, and 40% of food money, after fixed apartment and utility costs. Nothing even figured in for taxes, dental visits, co-pays, and service fees on debit cards for cab drivers to get their own money back.
It would be interesting to know who the movers and shakers really were who forced these credit card systems into 17,000 NYC cabs? Now it seems that VeriFone Holdings, Inc., has bought the Clear Channel taxi ad business that we understand were connected to CMT. Does this mean that CMT is out of business?
Why don’t the NYC cab drivers go to court and get these systems out of their taxi cabs. After all, their income has been raided and they are parasited by the bankers/advertisers with cuts to the taxi rental garages. Some NYC taxi medallions are owned by owner operators, what about them. Their income, their livelihoods, with their own personal financial investment and sweat labor, has been taken by the rich right from their hands. 6% gross, 15% net, 40% of food money.
I’m surprised Mayor Bloomberg got re-elected.
Chip Stern 01.20.10 at 12:45 pm
Isn’t it enough that these advertising delivery systems are purported by our Mayor to be “technical enhancements” and that he likes them. That trumps any objections I or my passengers might have.
It is the patriotic duty of all New Yorkers to suck up more advertising. The TLC has mandated it.
So let it be written, so let it be done.
CreditCardCabbie 01.20.10 at 9:08 pm
Mr. Stern! Of course the Mayor likes them, he never gets distracted by them, like an italian visitor who left her purse in a yellow cab, - thanks for the AD flickering cab-TV!
http://www.1010wins.com/NYC-Cab-Driver-Returns–21-000-to-Italian-Visitor/6095028