New Wave of Contactless Payments Speeds Up Earnings

Contactless payments produce a complete new field of payment possibilities for merchants. Contactless payments are speedy, simple and pave the way for greater profits. 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 data on the card is read and the payment is processed without a signature for purchases less than $25.00 with no chargebacks to the merchant. Merchants dont require to worry about compatibility with their present systems or security mentioned, Mohamed Khan, President and Founder of ViVOtech, Santa Clara, Calif.-based developer of contactless software program, transaction management systems and readers. We have been operating closely with processors, card issuers and terminal providers to develop an open technique employing the IS0 14443 regular. It utilizes secure encryption technology. The contactless card doesnt leave the clients hands therefore it is more secure and theres no skimming of data, assured Kahn who sees contactless as a wonderful chance for merchants to improve income. He envisions contactless payments as a replacement for cash because they are more rapidly, a lot more handy and expense 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 current POS terminals, and Integrated Contactless Readers (ICRs) that replace conventional readers and offer you each magnetic-stripe- and contactless-reading capabilities. Merchants can obtain either kind of reader. The PCRs generally expense about $150. Some merchant service providers such as Acies, nonetheless, 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 present in circulation in the U.S. He predicts that 1st contactless successes will be at the brand name retailers and then merchants in the places exactly where cards are deployed will follow suit when their clients ask to use their contactless cards. Consumers are asking for contactless in the New York Metro region where many cards have been dropped, says Oleg Frier CEO and President Acies, Inc, a New York City-headquartered national payment processing and financial services provider. Other places exactly where there are substantial mifare 4k contactless readers and cards incorporate Atlanta, Philadelphia, Denver, Dallas and Orlando, says Khan. Scientific studies show the speed and added value of contactless payments simply because usually when a person does not spend with cash the quantity of the transaction increases. Visa trials showed their contactless card transactions had been 25% more quickly than cash. MasterCard PayPass trials showed an increase in transaction amounts and 12 to 18 second reductions in payment occasions for drive-thru transactions. Aite Group reports that CVS, the drug shop chain, has found the average contactless transaction takes 12.5 seconds, versus 26.7 seconds for magnetic-stripe card payments and 33.7 seconds for a cash transaction. Merchants who have a small time frame to service customers, such as quickly food restaurants, coffee houses, film theatres, drug shops, convenience retailers and drive-thrus can benefit greatly from contactless payment methods. McDonalds, AMC Theatres, CVS, Meijer, Duane Reade, Regal Entertainment, Ritz Camera, Arbys, Cold Stone Creamery, Eckerd, Carls Jr., Excellent Occasions Burger, KFC, RaceTrac, Subway, Sonic (Drive-In Restaurants) and Walgreens have installed contactless readers. Convenience shops are gearing up to accept contactless payments. Contactless readers are getting installed in 5,300 7-Eleven stores and 350 Sheetz stores. WaWa markets is installing over 2000 readers in its 540 shops 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 technology, at Visa, we have an absolute commitment to assure achievement of contactless payments, stated Elvira Swanson, Visa spokeswoman. Visa, with four million Visa Contactless cards in circulation, delivers collateral materials, on the internet demos, and merchant support teams to assist educate merchants. This is the real factor. Contactless is beyond the chicken and egg idea stage now, when you appear at how many financial institutions have produced the choice to offer contactless and the number of national merchants accepting it, mentioned T.J. Sharkey, Vice President, Company Development, U.S. Acceptance, MasterCard International. MasterCard is supporting contactless in a lot of methods. Merchants who accept contactless payments are listed at the MasterCard Web site 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 incorporate Citibank, MBNA, HSBC (debit cards), JP Morgan Chase, Crucial Bank (debit cards) and Citizen. There have been numerous pilot contactless programs in sports stadiums which includes San Francisco, Seattle, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Recently, yet another form element of contactless has been added into the mix, with the trial of NFC (Near Field Communications) contactless payments from cell sr10 reader 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 merely holding their Nokia mobile phones equipped with Philips' NFC semiconductor chips and ViVOtech software near mifare card stock 1 of the 150 terminals. NFC is compatible with ISO 1443 readers has other features such as the potential to transmit a coupon to a reader. Contactless payments are the wave of the future and will alter the way the world pays for purchases, Khan mentioned enthusiastically. ###