Preparing The Business Case >>

Benefit Identification

1. Faster Payment Processing

One of the primary benefits of implementing Contactless technology is the reduction in transaction time. Contactless payments have been shown to progress customers through the transaction process at the point-of-sale more quickly than either cash or full chip and PIN card transactions. For the majority of Contactless transactions there is no customer verification, no receipt and no authorisation, and the average transaction time is therefore reduced to under a second.

Please note that the security measures in place for Contactless mean that there will be a small number of potential Contactless transactions that will revert to a full chip and PIN transaction to authenticate the cardholder. However, since most cardholders will enter their PIN regularly during the course of the day – whether at the cash machine or other point-of-sale, the requirement to fallback will be a very occasional occurrence. Your acquirer will be able to give you some indication of the frequency that can be expected.

>> Transaction Time
Assuming you know the value of each second saved at the point-of-sale, it is possible to calculate the direct savings of reduced transaction time. Your acquirer (see links to participants) will be able to assist in estimating the number of transactions of £15 or less that are expected to convert to Contactless both in the short and longer term.

In contrast to cash, with a Contactless card transaction there is no need for the either the customer to count out coins or for the retailer to supply change. Therefore, the time saving should be applied not only to card transactions of £15 or less – but also to a proportion of cash transactions, which you acquirer (see links to participants) should also be able to help you estimate.

For accurate transaction times, and relative speed in relation to other payment methods, you are advised to contact your acquirer (see links to participants).

>> Increased Throughput - Queue Busting!
The advantages to be gained from reduced transaction times will of course be dependent on additional factors such as the percentage of transactions conducted during peak hours. However, wherever queues are removed or reduced, more customers can be served. For many retailers increased throughput will translate directly to increased revenue.

Research has shown that a large percentage of customers will walk out of a shop due to excessive queue length, meaning that there are also substantial gains to be found in reducing the number of sales that the customer abandons.