Coles looks into contactless roll out
28 March, 2011
category: Contactless
Australian supermarket chain Coles is considering adopting contactless payments after a successful introduction of the technology in its hardware business Bunnings Warehouse last year, according to ZDNet Australia.
The company, which has 742 stores in Australia, hopes to introduce the technology to boost efficiency at the check-out line and improve overall customer experience, says Douglas Swansson, head of Payment Services for Coles.
According to Swansson, the idea of using contactless cards is popular among younger shoppers, but the 50-plus set is largely uninformed about what the technology is, and thus hesitant to take up contactless purchasing.
“The Commonwealth Bank has done a huge job of getting cards out, but there’s still a lot of confusion about what it is,” Swansson told ZDNet.
Swansson is also a proponent of NFC-enabled mobile contactless payment, which he perceives as more secure.
“The security of NFC is better, because someone will report their phone stolen in 20 minutes, whereas people usually report their card stolen in around 2 days … that’s an advantage for us — that we can kill it over the air, making it more secure,” said Swansson.
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