“This past weekend, my daughter and I were at the beach,” explained a colleague of Unity Payments this morning, “An ice cream truck was there and she requested a snow cone. I pulled out a five dollar bill as the truck had a sign that read ‘cash only’. I was lucky to even have the five on me. It was literally the only bill I had. If the snow cone had cost any more, my daughter would’ve been out of luck. Ice cream trucks should really get with the program.”
Our colleague was referring to the fact that “cash only” businesses are becoming things of the past. Payment options that enable credit card and debit card transactions are much preferred today. Especially because people get to simply tap their cards to make easy payments these days, the contactless payment option is practically expected by consumers of all merchants.
Contactless payment options promote safety.
More than two years ago,the pandemic changed things. Consumers everywhere were encouraged to use tap payments as a way to avoid physically touching POS terminals. The thinking, of course, was that reducing the touching of surfaces would help to significantly reduce the spread of COVID-19. COVID-based restrictions have been lifted for months. However, there are still many people who wish to keep themselves safe by avoiding the touching of surfaces.
“35.5% of customers said they use contactless payments because of health and safety concerns,” reports Bobby Marhamat on Forbes.com, “We know that the pandemic prompted massive contactless payment adoption. Mastercard reported a 40% jump in contactless payments about a month into the pandemic’s initial surge. That upward trend has continued, which may suggest that customers still aren’t completely at ease with cash, card processing machines and other contact-dependent modes of checkout.”
Contactless payments help to build customer relationships.
These days, safety is just one of many reasons to continue making contactless payments. Naturally, it’s very convenient to be able to pull out a card, tap it and complete a purchase. However, it stands to reason that consumers who are given this option continue to appreciate the safety concerns merchants show. According to Everyware Founder and CEO, Larry Talley on BizJournals.com, offering safe payment methods helps to build trust with customers.
“Customers who are shopping and communicating in their preferred method are likely to be (or become) more brand loyal,” he believes, “Creating a level of trust by offering a safe way to make a payment or interact with a company leaves customers with a positive perception and increased likelihood of return. Pairing a preferred payment format with the perk of a rapid response time…and a quick, secure transaction experience is a sure way to cultivate a loyal customer base.”
Are you looking to upgrade your POS terminal to accept contactless payments?
At Unity Payments, we proudly offer Canadian merchants a variety of high-quality POS terminals to choose from. You can easily and securely accept credit card and debit card payments with the Newland 910, the Ingenico Desk 5000 or the Ingenico Move 5000. To learn all about your options, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-661-3761. You may also email us at info@unitypayments.ca.
