Restaurants to benefit from contactless payment
Restaurants across the UK could soon be used to a new ‘wave and pay’ method of payment, after Sushi chain Wasabi has announced it is the first restaurant in the UK to pilot the Commidea Contactless Payment System, an EPoS device designed to speed up the process of payment in busy restaurants and bars.
Customers simply need to touch their credit or debit card to the reader instead of entering a pin number, and in less than half a second, the transaction is complete. Commidea claim the process is completely secure, and as the transaction limit cannot exceed £10, cardholders are assured their money is safe.
As most transactions in Wasabi amount to less than £8, the Japanese restaurant chain is set to benefit from faster transactions, shorter queues and an overall higher table turnover.
Lester Sharpe, Operations Manager for Wasabi, said: “Wasabi is all about uniqueness. Uniqueness of product, design and shop layout, and for the time being at least this is another unique aspect of our brand. All of our outlets are situated in prime, heavy footfall locations and consequently the need for a fast, smooth running solution was paramount. The feedback from both shop staff and customers has been very positive and already we are planning on extending the Contactless solution to at least four more high profile sites. We have already seen a 24 per cent increase in credit card payments.”
The terminal simply adds on to any of the Ocius range of EPoS, including the Ocius for PCs, which incorporates an external card reader and LCD screen for displaying transaction messages to the customer.
The Contactless EPoS solution has also recently received the Payment Solution Award at the European Retail Solutions Awards (ERSA), alongside sandwich retailer EAT, the first retailer to install the system in the UK.
Commidea predict that 75 per cent of debit cards and 45 per cent of credit cards in the UK will be contactless-enabled by the end of 2011, making the product a perfect addition to busy London restaurants and pubs in preparation for the onslaught of the 2012 Olympic Games.
