Five ways contactless payments can help your business

Five ways contactless payments can help your business

There are about 36 million credit and debit cards in the UK that can perform contactless transactions, where you tap the card on a card reader instead of using chip and PIN.

And after a bit of a slow start, it seems people are starting to embrace contactless. An estimated 125 contactless payments a minute are made with VISA cards alone.

So, here are five reasons your business should offer contactless payments:

1. Make speedier sales

Queues are bad for business. They frustrate customers, who sometimes walk away if they don’t have time to wait.

Contactless payments only take a second or so.

It might not sound like that’ll make much difference compared to using chip and PIN or counting out change. However, if you serve hundreds of people a day, you’ll notice a drop in queue length and an increase in happy customers.

2. Customers buy more

Currently, contactless payments are limited to £20 per transaction. But research shows that because consumers can spend more than just the change in their pockets, they do tend to spend a bit more.

In future, it’s likely the £20 ceiling will be raised, giving customers even greater contactless spending power.

3. It’s cheaper than chips

To start using contactless, you may need to buy a new payment terminal. Once up and running, it’s unlikely transactions will cost you more.

In fact, contactless transactions on debit cards usually attract lower charges than chip and PIN. And that means you’ll have a little extra in the till at the end of the day.

4. Get more time to talk

Although contactless saves time on transactions, it doesn’t have to strip away all human engagement.

It’s important businesses develop relationships with regular customers. And with less time spent focusing on the mechanics of paying, you have more time to make conversation.

5. Stay on top of new trends

Keeping up with new trends can be daunting. But if you embrace those that come your way, you’ll keep your business on top of its game — and ahead of the competition.

Or to put it another way: contactless is growing. Maybe your customers aren’t that bothered about using it yet. And maybe none of your competitors have it today. But both those facts will change. Are you ready?

• Contactless payments are coming. But do we want them?
• Contactless payments infographic
• Which card payment terminal is right for you?

Andy Macauley is chief operating officer of Handepay.