New Wave of Contactless Payments Speeds Up Profits

Contactless payments generate a complete new field of payment possibilities This external link was removed for your protection for merchants. Contactless payments are speedy, basic and pave the way for greater earnings. A wise personal computer chip, with information and an antenna is embedded into a credit card, debit card or fob. When the card or fob is tapped on a radio frequency reader, the reader sends out a radio signal that activates the card, the info on the card is read and the payment is processed with no a signature for purchases less than $25.00 with no chargebacks to the merchant. Merchants dont want to worry about compatibility with their present systems or security said, Mohamed Khan, President and Founder of ViVOtech, Santa Clara, Calif.-based developer of contactless software program, transaction management systems and readers. We have been working closely with processors, card issuers and terminal providers to develop an open method making use of the IS0 14443 standard. It makes use of secure encryption technology. The contactless card doesnt leave the clients hands consequently it is a lot more secure and theres no skimming of information, assured Kahn who sees contactless as a wonderful chance for merchants to increase income. He envisions contactless payments as a replacement for cash due to the fact they are faster, a lot more convenient and cost much less due to much less shrinkage and less labor involved. There are two varieties of contactless readers readily available: Peripheral Contactless Readers (PCRs) that plug in to existing POS terminals, and Integrated Contactless Readers (ICRs) that replace standard readers and supply each magnetic-stripe- and contactless-reading capabilities. Merchants can acquire either sort of reader. The PCRs usually cost around $150. Some merchant service providers such as Acies, nevertheless, are offering offers competitive plans and totally free readers with terminals. David Robertson, Publisher of The Nilson Report (Carpinteria, Calif.) estimates that there are 12 million contactless cards at the moment in circulation in the U.S. He predicts that first contactless successes will be at the brand name retailers and then merchants in the places exactly where cards are deployed will stick to suit when their buyers ask to use their contactless cards. Clients are asking for contactless in the New York Metro location exactly where numerous cards have been dropped, says Oleg Frier CEO and President Acies, Inc, a New York City-headquartered national payment processing and monetary services provider. Other locations where there are substantial contactless readers and cards contain Atlanta, Philadelphia, Denver, Dallas and Orlando, says Khan. Studies show the speed and added worth of contactless payments since normally when somebody does not pay with cash the amount of the transaction increases. Visa trials showed their contactless card transactions had been 25% more quickly than money. MasterCard PayPass trials showed an increase in transaction amounts and 12 to 18 second reductions in payment instances for drive-thru transactions. Aite Group reports that CVS, the drug retailer chain, has found the typical contactless transaction takes 12.5 seconds, versus 26.7 seconds for magnetic-stripe card payments and 33.7 seconds for a money transaction. Merchants who have a modest time frame to service buyers, such as This external link was removed for your protection quick food restaurants, coffee homes, movie theatres, drug shops, convenience stores and drive-thrus can benefit significantly from contactless payment approaches. McDonalds, AMC Theatres, CVS, Meijer, Duane Reade, Regal Entertainment, Ritz Camera, Arbys, Cold Stone Creamery, Eckerd, Carls Jr., Good Times Burger, KFC, RaceTrac, Subway, Sonic (Drive-In Restaurants) and Walgreens have installed contactless readers. Convenience stores are gearing up to accept contactless payments. Contactless readers are being installed in 5,300 7-Eleven stores and 350 Sheetz stores. WaWa markets is installing over 2000 readers in its 540 retailers co-branded with a credit card and loyalty plan. Card associations are also gung-ho for contactless payments. It takes a village to launch a new technologies, at Visa, we have an absolute commitment to assure good results of contactless payments, mentioned Elvira Swanson, Visa spokeswoman. Visa, with 4 million Visa Contactless cards in circulation, offers collateral supplies, online demos, and merchant help teams to assist educate merchants. This is the genuine thing. Contactless is beyond the chicken and egg idea stage now, when you appear at how numerous financial institutions have created the choice to provide contactless and the number of national merchants accepting it, mentioned T.J. Sharkey, Vice President, Enterprise Development, U.S. Acceptance, MasterCard International. MasterCard is supporting contactless in numerous methods. Merchants who accept contactless payments are listed at the MasterCard Net web site exactly where there are demonstrations on how their Tap N Go, PayPass cards operate. Tv commercials illustrating their PayPass cards are airing nationally. Banks issuing contactless cards include Citibank, MBNA, HSBC (debit cards), JP Morgan Chase, Essential Bank (debit cards) and Citizen. There have been many pilot contactless programs in sports stadiums including San Francisco, Seattle, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Recently, an additional form aspect of contactless has been added into the mix, with the trial of NFC (Close to Field Communications) contactless payments from cell phones at the Philips Arena in Atlanta. Season ticket holders with Chase-issued Visa credit accounts and Cingular Wireless accounts can make contactless payments by basically holding their Nokia mobile phones equipped with Philips' This external link was removed for your protection NFC semiconductor chips and ViVOtech software program near 1 of the 150 terminals. NFC is compatible with ISO 1443 readers has other functions such as the ability to transmit a coupon to a reader. Contactless payments are the wave of the future and will alter the way the globe pays for purchases, Khan said enthusiastically. ###