Money Talks - No more Penny Lane
Liverpool may have given The Beatles the song title Penny Lane, but if anywhere in the country is turning away from pennies (and other forms of cash) it’s Liverpool. By Hany Fam
Stagecoach, supported by MasterCard and RBS WorldPay has launched a PayPass trial on its 200-strong fleet of buses giving customers the opportunity to pay for their travel directly from their bank accounts with just a simple tap.
By using their PayPass-enabled payment cards, passengers need not worry about having the correct change. This is one of the innovative ways that more than 66 million PayPass-enabled cards and devices are being used at more than 174,000 locations worldwide (as of Q3 2009). The contactless system allows people to simply ‘Tap and Go’ for payments of £10 or less, eliminating the need to fumble for cash and coins, hand a card over to a clerk or use a ‘chip and PIN’ device.
MasterCard’s research shows that PayPass technology allows retailers to reduce transaction times by approximately 40 per cent, and queuing by 15-20 per cent. This may seem small but in environments where every second counts – such as fast food restaurants, transit environments and high street shops – reducing transaction time can dramatically increase revenue.
Over the past year we have made significant developments in the use of PayPass technology across the country. Recently, Boots announced that, in partnership with MasterCard, it would become the latest major high street retailer to trial contactless technology. The leading health and beauty merchant will join popular brands including Pret à Manger, EAT, Caffé Nero, McDonalds, Books Etc and The National Trust in using the innovative system.
All of these companies are enhancing their customers’ experience through shorter queues and quicker service, while gaining genuine business benefits from reducing the cost of handling cash and increasing transaction volume.
However, what is really exciting about PayPass is that it will revolutionise the industry, opening up new acceptance channels for electronic transactions and changing how consumers think about payments. The Stagecoach trial of PayPass is already demonstrating how contactless payments offer advantages beyond the traditional shopping environment. Opening up the possibility of an automated future that revolutionises the daily lives of consumers from the moment they wake up in the morning until they go to bed at night.
PayPass is allowing businesses to offer payment mechanisms that fit more comfortably into consumer’s everyday lives. In the years to come, people will not only be able to pay using cards; but also using their PayPass-enabled mobile phone. At MasterCard, we are currently working on an exciting project with Barclaycard and the mobile phone operator Orange to make mobile payments as intuitive to consumers as card payments are today.
Hany Fam, group general manager of MasterCard UK & Ireland
