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usage such as vending machines and on-street parking. Last
year’s move by Transport for London’s to accept contactless
payments on London buses will also drive awareness, in London
at least, and the company’s plans to roll out contactless to the
rest of the transport network later this year will also help.
Oliver Harding-Fleet, head of UK product and innovation, at
card payment processor Global Payments calls this a “period
of assimilation while both retailers and consumers get used
to the new method of payment.” However he says consumers
are becoming more relaxed with the technology. “Consumers
are now beginning to see the benefits and their confidence is
growing as the terminals appear at an increasing number of
outlets,” he adds.
But consumer education is key to breaking old habits. “Using
chip and PIN or cash is simply a force of habit which can be
easily changed with a nudge at the till from the retailer to try
contactless,” observes Harding-Fleet. But the reality is that few
are doing this and in most retailers it seems it is the customer
who must take the lead.
Even M&S admits this is an option it has chosen. The retailer
first introduced contactless payment to 25 of its London stores
in July last year ahead of the Olympics and is now rolling it out
across UK stores. It says customer have been positive about the
new technology. “They’ve really responded to the convenience
and speed of contactless payment,” notes Craig Borrett, who
has headed the roll-out.
The retailer is promoting contactless technology through
its own M&S Bank debit card and point of sale signage and is
recognised as one of the leaders in promoting the technology
however Borrett admits the retailer isn’t pushing education to
customers. “We have trained our employees on how to use the
contactless technology but we felt they do not actively promote
the option to customers. We feel that the decision on payment
method should be the customers but we will try and drive
awareness through use of the contactless symbol,” he says.
Boots first introduced contactless payments in 2009 and
began their roll-out in June 2010 into 600 of the largest
stores in the UK. It has just announced a further extension of
the rollout in a bid to cut queues and improve the customer
experience in conjunction with Visa Europe and Streamline.
“Our ambition is to offer customers a great shopping experience
with quick, easy ways to pay and we believe that contactless
payment is one way to deliver this,” a spokesperson comments.
Its education is also rather passive however. “Store colleagues
receive training packs and each store receives informative
show material and customer information leaflets,” says the
spokesperson.
Consult Hyperion’s Munro believes things are beginning
to improve,however. “Retailers who have recently adopted
contactless payments, have been better at integrating
contactless supplement
contactless into their payments portfolio. Better trained staff
and better signage at the point of sale are helping the growth in
acceptance of payment cards,” he says.
“The retailers who are doing it right (Marks & Spencers and
McDonald’s are probably the best examples) have thought
about contactless and how it can help their business. They have
invested in training their staff and making their customers
aware that they take contactless payments. Many of the readers
have material around the reader encouraging customers that
they can pay by contactless. This education of the retail staff
and customers is essential to the adoption of contactless
payments,” notes Munro.
However Munro points out there are also retailers that are
failing. “There are some retailers who don’t make contactless
work for them, with readers hidden behind merchandise,
switched off, or with staff who are not sure how to use them,”
he adds.
Visa says that it is vital that retail staff feel confident about
accepting contactless payments. “With many retailers we have
provided staff with pre-paid contactless cards before launch so
that they have the opportunity to try it for themselves if they
don’t already have a contactless card,” says Anne Van Schrader,
vice president – contactless and mobile for Visa Europe.
But adoption has been hindered somewhat by the technology
itself for some retailers. “We initially introduced contactless
payment about two years ago but withdrew the terminals as
the solution was not PCI compliant,” observes Spar UK retail IT
controller Roy Ford. Since then he says it has taken the retailer
a further 18 months to reinstall and integrate new technology,
which is now in six pilot stores and will be rolled out to all stores
once the retailer is confident.
Ikea meanwhile trialled contactless payments in its restaurant
areas in 2010 but because of what it calls ‘technical reasons’ has
not worked with it since and does not currently have it in any
UK stores. However it is on the cards. “As we are always looking
for ways to improve our customers shopping experience, we
aim to reintroduce contactless payment by the end of this year,”
comments a spokesperson for the chain.
Systems have to suit if technology is to advance according
to Munro. “In certain retailers the staff have to press extra
buttons on the till to allow you to pay by contactless,” he says.
“This builds friction into a process that is supposed to speed up
payments. When done properly, the once the final amount is
known, and it is below the £20 limit, the register should enable
contactless reader automatically, making it simple for the shop
assistant and the customer,” he says.
With such huge potential growth literally on the cards all
parties must work harder to increase contactless payment
adoption – especially ahead of the next step move to mobile
contactless.
RS
February - March 2013 RS 23