Contactless payment slow and steady to enter hospitality industry
18 December, 2009
category: Contactless, Financial
According to Hospitality Technology, only 9% of U.S. citizens carry contacless credit or debit cards, but with an increasing number of restaurants and services now accepting contactless technology, that may be set to change.
Leading the way are fast food giants such as McDonald’s and Dairy Queen, who have installed contactless readers in their combined 16,000 stores nationwide.
Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain Sheetz has also embraced the technology, allowing customers to make purchases using prepaid, reloadable contacless stickers.
Most companies, however, are still hesitant to make the investment until enough customers demand the technology.
According to Chris Schwanz, payment systems program manager at International Dairy Queen, the biggest hurdle for contactless payment going mainstream is teaching customers how to use their cards, and cashiers how to process them. Fear of information being illicitly “skimmed” off of chips has many other customers wary of going contactless.
Read more here.