SPRINGFIELD, MA – In an effort to better serve food truck owners and customers alike, Tursus Software has created Food on a Truck (FOAT), an app that brings easy-to-use tools and business protection in the wake of new credit card regulations to an owner’s fingertips.

To battle fraudulent credit card charges, EMV (or Europay, Mastercard, and Visa systems are rolling out across the U.S., the coupling of an updated POS system with credit cards that contain microchips. As of October 2015, if a charge occurs with a fraudulent credit card through a swipe and sign POS system, the business will be held liable for that charge. As such, an updated POS system is necessary to avoid these charges – and that’s where FOAT comes in.

The app is exclusively available on the Clover POS (Point of sale) system which FOAT sells to food trucks not already using Clover. Clover uses dedicated hardware that was designed specifically as a POS system so it’s more rugged, reliable, and secure. Josh Doyle, software engineer at Tursus says, “Clover has been amazing to work with, they’ve created a very powerful POS in a compact size that’s perfect for food trucks”.

FOAT works to ensure safe card usage for both businesses and customers through hardware that accepts microchipped cards by:

Cards are now “dipped” instead of “swiped” (The POS reads the computer chip in the card)
This eliminates skimming during swiped transactions (which creates a copy of the payment data which is used for fraudulent charges)
Payment data is only valid for one specific transaction
Contactless payments such as Apple Pay are also accepted (and are just as secure)

When food trucks install FOAT, they’ll be armed with even more solutions to their needs. FOAT takes what is already available in the Clover platform and enhances it with features specifically designed for the modern food truck:

Easy-to-use reporting dashboard which provides key metrics that can be used to expand the business, including sales by location
Automatic customer communication through social media so more hungry customers show up at the truck
Customer Survey app included with each purchase
Easy to reach customer service with 24/7 phone support for the POS and merchant account
More features always being developed

Food trucks already using Clover’s hardware can simply purchase the FOAT app through the Clover App Market. Those who do not have Clover hardware can find it for purchase via the Food on a Truck website.