FRISCO, Texas -- By next year, movie-goers at Regal Entertainment Group cinemas will be able to obtain movie tickets, cash and other services from ATM/kiosks provided by Fujitsu Transaction Services.
Knoxville, Tenn.-based Regal intends to deploy 300 terminals through 2004, according to a news release. Regal operates 6,119 screens in 562 locations nationwide.
Fujitsu has begun deploying the machines at Regal movie theaters throughout the country. The first locations are in Knoxville, Tenn.; Atlanta; New Rochelle, N.Y.; Houston; San Diego; and Portland, Ore.
The terminals, which are branded Regal Express, can be used for purchasing tickets as well as for withdrawing cash.
Fujitsu and Regal developed the customer-activated terminals to print Regal's movie tickets and provide other services on a real-time basis through an interface directly to Regal's back-office systems. A companion unit offers tickets only. All units accept payment using debit or credit card.
More services will be added. The companies expect the Express machines to become the primary movie ticket pick-up point for Fandango's Print-at-Home service, with which customers purchase their movie tickets on the Fandango.com Web site.
During Print-at-Home transactions, customers print out unique, bar-coded confirmations that they bring with them to the theater, where the bar-coded confirmations are scanned and the tickets dispensed.
Austen Mulinder, president and chief executive of Fujitsu Transaction Solutions, said in the release, "Some companies specialize in the automatic ticket vending business, and others offer ATMs. But Fujitsu is the only manufacturer in the market offering a device with specialized software that enables a retailer to build its own unique services."
