The great debate
Contactless payments have gathered momentum over the past few years. This has seen Visa and Mastercard benefit from Kiwis jumping on the bandwagon and, in some cases demand, this service from merchants (that’s you).
If all you need to do is hold your debit or credit card against the card reader to pay for goods and services, it’s hard to fault why it has become so popular among Kiwi buyers.
But let’s ask some questions and discuss the facts to help you make an informed decision on whether to offer this to your customers or not.
Is speed something your customers would appreciate? Contactless is faster only by about 20-30 seconds, but faster none the less.
Do you have big queues at peak times, for example a café at lunch time or takeaway outlet at dinner time?
Kiwis tend to get put off by lines, so how many of your customers are getting frustrated?
Are fast transactions a must for you?
Do your customers ask for it? And how many and how often?
Research suggests that 70% of Kiwis are using Contactless – but will they stop shopping with you if you don’t have it?
Who is your target market? Are you trying to attract the younger generation to your business? They tend to get wrapped up in the latest technology trends, like digital wallet Apple Pay and want to utilise them. In your business, is it essential to be seen embracing technology?
Facts for the Merchant
If you accept credit card transactions:
Every contactless transaction that goes through your Eftpos terminal gets charged a fee per transaction (this is the rate you have negotiated with your bank).
Every credit Card transaction that goes through your Eftpos terminal gets charged a fee per transaction (this is the rate you have negotiated with your bank).
Every Eftpos transaction – this is where the card is put through the terminal by swipe or insert and your customer chooses cheque or savings and enters a pin – is free to you per transaction
Find out and Analyse
Find out what rate you are being charged by your merchant bank. Is it one rate for all or is it different rates for contactless versus credit card transactions? You should be able to get this information from your monthly bank statement.
Find out how many transactions are under $80 per transaction – these are the transactions that can be a true contactless transaction. The customer simply taps and goes with no PIN necessary.
Find out how many transactions are over $80 and therefore need a PIN entered anyway, and therefore not that much faster than an Eftpos transaction.
If you already accept credit cards – what % of your transactions are they?
If a high percentage of your transactions are credit card anyway, accepting contactless won’t make much difference to your business costs – your bottom line.
If your credit card transactions are low and most of your transactions are made by Eftpos, then can you afford to lose that cost on each transaction?
Lots to think about!
We hope this has given you some tools to make an informed decision, but if you want a more in-depth run through – please call and talk to one of the Eftco team or visit www.eftco.co.nz.