SteriPay
Rapid disinfection of card payment terminals utilising UV light
Surfaces and objects regularly touched by multiple people facilitate the spread of diseases like COVID-19. In commercial settings, one of the most common touch points is card payment terminals as these get used for over 75% of transactions.
This lead to the development of SteriPay, a way to allow card payment terminals to be disinfected between every customer. The project was completed by Vital Spark Creative as part of Innovate UK funding for COVID-19 relief solutions.
How it works
The payment terminal is fixed to the SteriPay Handle via an interchangeable backplate which can be used to attach it to a retail stand. After the customer enters their PIN and leaves the cashier removes the Handle and inserts it into the Disinfection Station where it is automatically sanitised in 25 seconds. It can then be attached to stand again for the next customer to use it.
SteriPay uses high-power UV-C bulbs to disinfect all touchable surfaces of the payment terminal. The bulbs are enclosed inside the Disinfection Station and the Handle seals the top opening so that users are never exposed to the UV-C light.
Design Process
Research was done into applicable UV-C technologies, the marketplace and stakeholders surrounding card payment terminals and trying to find a potential target market for the design solution.
Following this research a selection of 2D designs & quick prototypes were made that explored a wide range of design directions. This enabled us to visualise designs using different technologies and payment terminal types to and understand what the basic user experience would be like.
After choosing a design direction focus was put onto refining the ergonomics of use, working on the UX to signify disinfection status and optimising the UV-C disinfection process. We also collaborated with an external electronics engineer to define the overall embedded system and create PCBs for our functional prototype.
Marketing Material
After the reaching a functional prototype stage and completing the InnovateUK funding round we were in search of development partners to further the project and bring it to market. A sales sheet and website helped us to explain the design to potential partners - all assets and design work for these documents were created internally.
Functional Prototype
The 3D printed prototype houses two custom PCBs and the T5 UV-C bulbs. the internal UV-C reflectors were also fabricated from a specific aluminium sheet material that has a very high reflective value.
The SteriPay Handle slides into Disinfection Station on 'T' slot in the lid. The opening in the lid is tapered, with the widest point at the 'T' slot - this stops the handle from being inserted incorrectly and also automatically forces the handle into the correct position to slide onto the slot. This mechanism was tested multiple times to ensure it was as easy as possible to insert the Handle into the Disinfection Station.
