Are you using smartphone payment options?

The holiday season is approaching and hopefully for most merchants that will mean stores full of people which is good for your bottom line. That could also mean that checkout lines can get a little long and it should be no surprise that consumers do not like to stand in long checkout lines. There is only so much that you as a merchant can do about that but there is one thing that could help. Do you accept payment via a smartphone?

It may not seem like much but think about how much time a transaction takes. Cash requires the opening of the till and counting out change and don’t forget that the customer has to then put said change away. Dipping a credit card takes time and while processors and issuers alike are working to speed up the time it is still a bit slow and the customer still has to put the card back into their wallet. Accepting a form of payment on a phone like Apple Pay takes only a few seconds and with that the customer is on their way.

Besides speeding up the line at busy times of the day or of the year there is another reason to begin taking payment in these forms. While many older Americans often find themselves annoyed that younger generations like millennials are constantly glued to their phones but the smartphone has become so versatile. Nearly 80% of all young Americans use their phone in one way or another to make financial transactions, whether that is an in-store purchase or to deposit a check. Accepting payments using NFC technology can be appealing for younger demographics.

If you really think about it this is about as a safe of an electronic transaction as you could have. The person using the phone would have to be logged in so it is a good bet that the person making the purchase is the owner of the account which will limit fraud. Biometric technology is used for authentication so that only the owner of the phone can authenticate the transaction. Of course there are more options as well than just Apple Pay. Android and Samsung also have apps that work the same way and there are certainly more.

This may not be for everyone and if this is not you we certainly understand. It may be something to consider for the future so just keep that in the back of your mind. If this is something that you are interested in learning more about or pursuing give JLE Business Consultants a call and we can help you.