New Wave of Contactless Payments Speeds Up Profits

Contactless payments develop a complete new field of payment choices for merchants. Contactless payments are speedy, basic and pave the way for greater earnings. A intelligent 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 information on the card is read and the payment is processed without a signature for purchases much less than $25.00 with no chargebacks to mifare card reader the merchant. Merchants dont need to have to be concerned about compatibility with their present systems or security said, Mohamed Khan, President and Founder of ViVOtech, Santa Clara, Calif.-based developer of contactless computer software, transaction management systems and readers. We have been working closely with processors, card issuers and terminal providers to develop an open system making use of the IS0 14443 normal. It utilizes secure encryption technologies. The contactless card doesnt leave the customers hands for that reason it is a lot more secure and theres no skimming of data, assured Kahn who sees contactless as a wonderful opportunity for merchants to boost income. He envisions contactless payments as a replacement for money since they are more quickly, a lot more handy and price less due to less shrinkage and less labor involved. There are two kinds of contactless readers available: Peripheral Contactless Readers (PCRs) that plug in to current POS terminals, and Integrated Contactless Readers (ICRs) that replace classic readers and provide each magnetic-stripe- and contactless-reading capabilities. Merchants can obtain either sort of reader. The PCRs typically price around $150. Some merchant service providers such as Acies, even so, are offering offers competitive plans and free readers with terminals. David Robertson, Publisher of The Nilson Report (Carpinteria, Calif.) estimates that there are 12 million contactless cards currently 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 clients ask to use their contactless cards. Consumers are asking for contactless in the New York Metro region exactly where a lot of 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 exactly where there are substantial contactless readers and cards consist of Atlanta, Philadelphia, Denver, Dallas and Orlando, says Khan. Studies show the speed and added worth of contactless payments simply because generally when a person does not pay with money the amount of the transaction increases. Visa trials showed their contactless card transactions were 25% more rapidly than money. MasterCard PayPass trials showed an boost in transaction amounts and 12 to 18 second reductions in payment instances for drive-thru transactions. Aite Group reports that CVS, the drug store chain, has found the typical contactless transaction takes 12.five seconds, versus 26.7 seconds for magnetic-stripe card payments and 33.7 seconds for a money transaction. Merchants who have a tiny time frame to service buyers, such as quickly food restaurants, coffee homes, movie theatres, drug stores, convenience stores and drive-thrus can benefit tremendously from contactless payment techniques. McDonalds, AMC Theatres, CVS, Meijer, Duane Reade, Regal Entertainment, Ritz Camera, Arbys, Cold Stone Creamery, Eckerd, Carls Jr., Good Instances Burger, KFC, RaceTrac, Subway, Sonic (Drive-In Restaurants) and Walgreens have installed contactless readers. Convenience mifare 4k retailers are gearing up to accept contactless payments. Contactless readers are being installed in five,300 7-Eleven stores and 350 Sheetz shops. WaWa markets is installing more than 2000 readers in its 540 stores 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, stated Elvira Swanson, Visa spokeswoman. Visa, with four million Visa Contactless cards in circulation, gives collateral materials, on-line demos, and merchant assistance teams to aid educate merchants. This is the true factor. Contactless is beyond the chicken and egg idea stage now, when you appear mifare cards at how several financial institutions have made the choice to offer you contactless and the number of national merchants accepting it, stated T.J. Sharkey, Vice President, Company Development, U.S. Acceptance, MasterCard International. MasterCard is supporting contactless in numerous methods. Merchants who accept contactless payments are listed at the MasterCard Net internet site where there are demonstrations on how their Tap N Go, PayPass cards function. Television commercials illustrating their PayPass cards are airing nationally. Banks issuing contactless cards incorporate Citibank, MBNA, HSBC (debit cards), JP Morgan Chase, Important Bank (debit cards) and Citizen. There have been several pilot contactless programs in sports stadiums such as San Francisco, Seattle, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Lately, yet another form aspect of contactless has been added into the mix, with the trial of NFC (Near 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 simply holding their Nokia mobile phones equipped with Philips' NFC semiconductor chips and ViVOtech software 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 change the way the planet pays for purchases, Khan said enthusiastically. ###