7-Eleven Partners With Verizon

DALLAS -- 7-Eleven Inc. yesterday teamed up with Verizon Communications to provide online bill payment and service orders using Vcom electronic kiosks at 400 7-Eleven stores -- with 1,000 kiosks expected to be operating by June of this year.

"Both Verizon and 7-Eleven have large customer bases, and together we are focused on bringing consumers more convenience," said Jay Giesen, managing director of 7-Eleven's Vcom -- the company's proprietary machine offering ATM capabilities and touch-screen convenience.

This partnership -- the first of its kind between a convenience store and a telecommunications company -- allows Verizon local phone service customers to pay their bills in cash, request and track a telephone repair, and order services including Caller-ID and Home Voice Mail. Currently, the kiosks will not be equipped to handle Verizon Wireless transactions, and will initially only except cash. However, the company is considering additional payment options such as credit and debit cards as well as money orders.

Verizon.com customers can use their current user name and password, and first-time users can register at a Vcom kiosk using account information from their Verizon phone bill. Furthermore, each machine provides a help-line phone, operated and staffed 24 hours a day, and customers have the option of conducting transactions in Spanish or English.