CBA's Albert in 987-day countdown from promise to launch

Next month, on 13 April, it will be 1,000 days since Commonwealth Bank first announced its Albert point of sale device.

Now it looks as though the bank will manage to slide in and formally launch the device just ahead of that "anniversary" - next Tuesday in fact.

The Albert point of sale system was developed in association with German company Wincor Nixdorf and IDEO. It achieved PCI certification last April and has been used in a series of trials, including being deployed to raise funds for the McGrath Foundation at the Sydney Pink Cricket Test earlier this year.

But the bank has had a number of niggling quality issues to solve. A launch scheduled to be held in its Sydney innovation lab next week is expected to finally see Albert's local debut.

Albert is an Android tablet with a touchscreen, a secure EMV interface able to accept chip and PIN cards, a receipt printer, and 3G and WiFi connectivity. The version of the device now being sold by Wincor Nixdorf also features a near field communications chip to allow contactless transactions.

Merchants will be able to load up the device with software meeting their particular payments needs, and also integrate with back office applications such as ERP systems in order to check stock levels.

The problem the bank will face is that in the 987 days between Albert's announcement and launch, the market has been flooded with a range of alternative POS solutions, many harnessing iPads and smartphones. Commbank itself has launched its Leo and Emmy mobile POS devices.

The integration of the printer has long been touted as a differentiator for Albert - but as more people opt to have receipts emailed, its cachet seems limited.

Instead Commbank will have to rely on powerful software to sell the virtues of its hardware.

Wincor Nixdorf, which already markets the Albert as part of its Aevi Pay payments system, is running a two day hackfest encouraging third party software developers to create applications for the Albert in Berlin next month.

In Australia the device will make use of the Commbank's Pi software platform. There are currently 15 apps slated for use on the Albert device on the bank's Pi appstore including Beat the Q, Kounta and SplitAbility (which lets consumers split a restaurant bill).

A handful of vertical market apps are also described as "coming soon" for Albert including one for ski-stores, beauty salons and charities.