Loanstation POS — bank compatibility

Loanstation is a point-of-sale system for education, built by FE Technologies. Geelong-built library self-service kiosks, in 3,000-plus library sites and owned out of China.

Certified on Linkly, running on premise. Linkly reaches more acquirers than any other middleware in the market, which is why most POS start there.

The Linkly integration runs on premise.

FE Technologies is a Geelong company — PO Box in Newcomb, a Geelong suburb — that has had a dedicated focus on library technology since 2007. It supports more than 3,000 library sites across the USA, UK, Europe, Australasia and Southeast Asia, with operations in Australia, the USA, Singapore and France. Named customers include Wellington City Libraries, Geelong Regional Libraries, City of Wanneroo Public Libraries, the University of Sydney and Monterey Public Library. Its US arm opened in 2019 and now covers over 125 library systems and 470-plus installations.

The EFTPOS angle is the whole reason this record exists. Back in 2010, Melbourne City Library and East Melbourne Library took six FE Technologies self-serve kiosks in what was described as the world's first RFID self-service solution with EFTPOS — letting borrowers borrow, renew and pay outstanding fines at the same machine. Melbourne City Library was averaging 3,000 visitors and 3,500 loans a weekday, with around 94% of loans self-serviced. The current product family is branded Self Loan Station, in V5, V5 Tabletop, V5 Children's and P2 variants.

Ownership is the thing most library managers would not guess: FE Technologies states on its own site that it is part of Invengo International, the RFID group. The Geelong operation and the Australian product line continue, but the parent is not Australian.