March 17, 1997 6:30 PM ET
Ex-Apple honcho maps out VeriFone sales push
By Renee Deger

Former Apple Computer Inc. executive Michael Mount started work Monday in VeriFone Inc.'s Internet Commerce division with one word at the top of his agenda: expansion. Mount, who for the past two years headed national sales for imaging products at Apple, assumed the role of director of reseller and alternative channels at VeriFone, where he will explore ways to find new markets for VeriFone's emerging product lines that handle secure transactions online for merchants and consumers. "Since 1983, I have been working with resellers and distributors, the people who bring technology products to market," said Mount. His new charter at VeriFone is an extension to that, he said. The Internet Commerce division ultimately seeks to market a "plug-and-play" product for Internet commerce much like the units the company sells currently, said George Hoyem, vice president and general manager of the Internet Commerce division. Those units are used to verify credit card and check transactions and interact with large, corporate infrastructures, Hoyem said. VeriFone has to marry existing credit card processing systems with new client/server applications, which can then be used for online transactions, and simultaneously encourage a wider usage of the products to win them consumer acceptance, said Roger Bertman, vice president of corporate development. Bertman was the engineer of VeriFone's Internet strategy. Mount is the second Apple executive in as many weeks to join the Menlo Park, Calif., maker of secure payment software and hardware. Robin Abrams, former head of Apple's U.S. sales, became head of the Americas Region for VeriFone. Copyright(c) 1997 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company is prohibited. PC Week and the PC Week logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. PC Week Online and the PC Week Online logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. Send mail to PC Week