12/07/2012 -
Merchants across a number of industries might be nervous or excited about mobile payments innovations, which aim to change the way consumers make purchases on a daily basis.However, after poor experience using digital wallet application in a coffee shop and drugstore, contributor and consumer technology analyst Rob Pegoraro reflects in a recent Discovery News article that tap-and-go payments might be better suited for mass transit environments. Indeed, transit systems have been some of the earliest adopters of contactless credit card processing technologies.
Chicago, New Jersey and Toronto have all announced plans to pilot or deploy new point-of-sale terminals that allow commuters to tap contactless cards against a reader to pay their fare. This is expected to reduce wait times and cut back on lines. These transactions are gaining more interest, as evidenced by American Express' recent announcement to add its name to the list of cards that can be used for Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO) trains that run between Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
"Contactless transit payments are gaining momentum," said Patricia Partelow, vice president of new Product Development for American Express' global network business. "American Express Cardmembers with contactless cards will benefit from this new technology that enables faster and more convenient payments at PATCO gates and parking terminals."
While retailers wait to find out how viable contactless solutions will be in other business environments, they might want to update their merchant services to facilitate quick and easy transactions.
