News

Are retailers down under on the fast track to mobile payments?

July 23, 2013

Australian retailers may be poised for the broad adoption of mobile payment technology. According to an article on ZDNet, there is a strong desire among the nation's brick-and-mortar retailers to cut transaction times and boost face-to-face and loyalty-driven interactions.

Russel Zimmerman, executive director at the Australian Retailers Association, said in the article:

If you asked retailers fifteen years ago whether they would be using Tap & Go technology they would have said: 'No, why would you do it?'

All of a sudden you now have Coles, Woolworths, Bunnings, 7Eleven and McDonalds using Tap & Go technologies. Why? Because they now see that it assists their business, gives them greater speed, is simpler, easier, and saves money... it has become a great opportunity.

The reason smaller retailers will pick mobile payments up is that there is loyalty [and loyalty programs] associated with it. It could be that you automatically get your tenth coffee free, or your fifth meal free or a free glass of wine if you can accrue loyalty points every time you pay with a mobile payment.

Anything a retailer can do to help build loyalty helps, and the fact that it is digital means you don't have to have your coffee card or your Subway card punched every time. The loyalty card is built into the system.

Read more about payments.