5 Reasons Why Customers Prefer Contactless Payment Restaurants
Contactless offers customers plenty of compelling benefits
Contactless payment has rocketed to mainstream popularity over the last few years. Per one 2020 survey by Raydiant, 83% of consumers said they had used contactless payments in the last year. Not only that, but 57% of respondents said that all other things being equal, they would rather patronize a business that offered contactless payment than one that did not.
Their widespread implementation may have been spurred by COVID, but contactless payment methods have stayed popular because there’s plenty for consumers to love about them. Here are six reasons why customers prefer contactless payment restaurants to those without the option.
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Why customers enjoy contactless payment restaurants
Security
Credit card fraud remains a top-of-mind issue for many consumers, and the dangers of identity theft are very real. Thanks to the popularity of credit cards with chips, contactless payment is among the safest ways to pay. When using contactless payment, the credit card in use sends a one-time, transaction-specific code containing information the vendor can use to charge their card, but never actually exposes account details. That makes it much safer than swiping with a magnetic stripe, which bad actors can use to lift info for malicious use. Even if a bad actor does manage to steal the one-time transaction code, the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center says the fraud possibility "is just not a viable threat."
A great example is ExpressCheck, which lets customers store and use their payment information in the CityCheers app. With ExpressCheck, the restaurant receives payment without even seeing that info, and that keeps customers secure. To learn more about how CityCheers improves the customer experience, book a demo today.
Speed
Whether it's the first stop on an epic bar crawl or a quiet dinner for a pair of regulars, the restaurant experience peaks when the table's full of food. By the time servers have cleared the plates and glasses, patrons want to pay and get on with their lives, and every moment they spend waiting is another chance for a negative final impression to sneak in. Waiting for the check, taking out their wallet, selecting the right card, waiting for the server to take the check back and charge the card, waiting for the card to return — it's entirely too much waiting.
Contactless payment restaurants can blast through this process. Early tests of the technology revealed major time-saving potential, and nowadays credit card companies such as Capital One claim contactless moves up to 10 times faster than swiping a card, inserting it, or paying with cash. With digital wallets available on mobile and wearable devices, things move even more quickly. As soon as the check arrives, patrons can apply their cards to a mobile point of sale (POS) device and move on. That's why nearly half (47.2%) of respondents to the aforementioned Raydiant survey cited convenience as their primary reason for using contactless payments.
Hygiene
Part of the reason contactless payment has grown so mainstream so rapidly is that COVID-19 pandemic placed a renewed focus on hygiene in the U.S. It doesn’t help that restaurants can occasionally get messy too — all it takes is one spilled cocktail to turn a table to a sticky morass of soaked napkins. Contactless payments offer a way to circumvent those risks and inconveniences, as near-field communication (NFC) tech allows customers to pay without touching a POS or handing their card over. Mastercard reported a 40% jump in contactless payments just one month into the pandemic, and more than a third of survey respondents listed caution around health and safety as the primary reason for using contactless payments. Plus, customers prefer to keep their cards safe from crumbs and sauce whenever possible.
Flexibility
If your wallet is within arm’s reach, open it and count the number of cards inside. There’s the one for airline miles, then there’s the one with the great cashback deal on groceries, and, oh, there’s your debit card, too. Experian says the average American has 3.84 credit cards, and when it comes time to pay at a restaurant, they don’t want to have to shuffle through them all to find the perfect one. Luckily, digital wallets can store a huge range of payment cards, no matter if they’re credit or debit. Customers used to paying with mobile and wearable wallets know the value of this convenience, quickly selecting the right card from their virtual list and paying without a hitch.
Fun
It’s easy to underestimate the simple pleasure of easy payment. Contactless payment is still relatively new to widespread adoption in the U.S., and as a result, it retains some amount of novelty and spectacle when the friend at the head of the table tells the group, “Don’t worry, it’s on me,” before paying from their phone — without even taking out a card. Mobile payment adoption has increased year over year for several years in a row, and it’s in no small part because customers want to be a part of what’s new and exciting. Then, once they’re in, the myriad other advantages of contactless payment keep them coming back.
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How CityCheers can help
Paying the bill can make or break a customer's experience. Contactless payment restaurants have already differentiated their business significantly by incorporating that technology, ensuring checkout is smooth as butter and raising the odds customers will return. For restaurants looking to streamline the process of settling the bill even further and truly impress their clientele, CityCheers is here to help. The ExpressCheck feature lets customers store payment info in the app, skipping delivery of the bill entirely and letting them pay at their leisure. Our app also includes POS integration with many of the most common solutions, allows businesses to send communications to customers who opt-in, and more.
Get in touch today to find out how the CityCheers app can push your business to the top.