Register

To receive our newsletter, click below…

Poll

Plastic fantastic – the rise and rise of cashless cards

2nd January 2008, 12:26pm

As Britain turns into a 24-hour nation, Nick Bate, Managing Director of VMC Limited takes a look at contact less payments and the ease they bring to businesses and consumers alike...

Choosing to pay for lunch with a cashless card is nothing new to the catering industry, hundreds of sites across the UK are using the easy payment method for every day purchases. However the technology surrounding the cashless world, is becoming ever more intelligent which leaves little room for luddites.

Cold hard cash has slowly been disappearing ever since the arrival of the first credit card in the 1960s, and it seems cashless systems have really caught the imagination of the nation. The education sector for instance has been particularly keen to reap the benefits of cashless technology.

Loughborough University are at the forefront of the cashless revolution extending their Smartcard payment scheme to track individual students diet and provide nutritional data in the form of a web-based food diary.

From the caterer's point of view it means they're more efficient and it helps customers connect with the food they're eating. It's groundbreaking stuff and the first university in the UK to offer this service.

However this is only scratching at the surface of the cashless payment revolution, and looking at the bigger picture, we are now moving towards a cashless society.

Last month saw the arrival of the London Evening Standard's Eros cashless card, which gives readers discounts on the newspaper, travel, books, shopping, theatre, dining out, as well as free downloads. Not of course forgetting the Transport For London (TFL) Oyster travel card, introduced in 2003, with over 10 million cards issued.

But travel and loyalty are two very small elements of the bigger picture, an interesting innovation last year was the launch of the Starbucks and Costa Coffee cards, which can be loaded with any amount from £2 to £150.

Again this avoids the daily hunt for the right change to purchase a cappuccino on the way into the office. We're a cash rich, time poor, nation and find paying for smaller purchases a minor annoyance, so any new technology that can take that away will take off quickly.

The banks have also recognised the need for cards that allow shoppers to pay for low value items (> £10) without having to use a PIN or signature. According to banking industry figures, there are more than 20 billion payments of £10 or less a year in the UK.

We expect to see flurry of activity over the next few months as a number of high street banks including Halifax and Bank of Scotland are set to issue contact less cards to account holders living in Canary Wharf and central London.

Barclaycard's OnePulse credit card goes one step further and allows for contact less payments, credit card transactions and has the added benefit of an Oyster travel card.

Visa & MasterCard have now both developed a contact less infrastructure. Visa payWave and Mastercard PayPass, contact less card readers are being installed into retailers where high volume, low value, cash transactions will be replaced by the use of the new card.

Londoners appear to be the guinea pigs for the nation, with all new cards initially being trialled across the capital, but its only a matter of time before we see these initiatives rolled out across the UK.

Moreover, by the end of 2008 APACS, the UK payments association expects five million contact less cards to have been issued in the UK. It seems we're all looking to replace the need for loose change and prefer the speed of electronic payments.

Contact less systems are well suited to certain types of retailers and businesses, such as fast-food restaurants, newsagents, pubs, taxis, parking facilities and vending machines. The cashless industry is incredibly fast moving and at VMC we're constantly upgrading our systems and providing new technology.

This year's big story for VMC was the arrival of salary sacrifice for some of our City based clients, which saves employees income tax on food and beverage purchases in the workplace. The client also benefits from employers national insurance savings and any purchases using the scheme become VAT zero-rated.

Cards have a tremendous ability to offer a range of services, for example they may be used for purchasing refreshments, integrated into building access control, salary sacrifice schemes and time & attendance systems. The range of applications for smartcard technology is constantly evolving.

The market is getting more advanced, and new technology is continually developing. VMC are investing heavily in research and development, our clients are embracing the huge potential for the use of smartcard technology in the workplace.

As 2008 begins, it will be interesting to see how the cashless world unfolds, how the public take to all the new initiatives being launched outside the workplace. Interesting times ahead!

For further information visit: www.vmcltd.co.uk

Click here to submit a comment!

Have your say!

To comment on this article, simply enter your name and email and send us your views. Please note that your comment will appear publicly below this article once it has been processed. For enquiries please email info@costsectorcatering.co.uk.