The concept of “pay-by-touch” means convenience, security, and speed for customers and cashiers alike. As the desire for reducing touch work in public grows, pay-by-touch devices are becoming commonplace. The question is, which solution is best for your business? Here’s a look at the top four to help you decide.

Why Offer Pay-by-Touch?

Aside from the pandemic pushing shoppers towards more hygienic solutions, pay-by-touch has long been growing in popularity thanks to the increased speed and security it offers to your customers. While chip payments are considered secure, they’re slow and can hold up lines, and they require the customer to insert their card and touch the reader to enter their pin or signature.

These pay-by-touch solutions reduce the frequency at which customers need to handle public surfaces, like your card reader, while also allowing shoppers to zip through the checkout line. Many of these payment options allow a transaction to be complete without any touch at all, and it all happens in a matter of seconds.

Whether or not you offer touch-less or low-touch payment options now, implementing some or all of these options can improve your relationship with customers, increase loyalty, and help you stay a step ahead as businesses continue to move into the digital era.

Not only will it help you keep pace with the competition, but these low-touch solutions also help show your customers that you care about their concerns and health. So let’s walk through your options.

#1 Contactless Card Terminal

A “tap-to-pay” card terminal, better known as an NFC-enabled terminal, allows for contactless payments using the shopper’s credit or debit card. Since banks have updated almost all debit and credit cards to feature contactless capabilities, this is a convenient solution. Rather than inserting or sliding their card, the buyer simply holds their card near the contactless reader on the terminal.

The near-field communication (NFC) technology within the terminal will detect the card using radio frequency identification (RFID). This generates a one-time code for the completion of the sale. It only takes a few seconds for the reader to detect the customer’s card as they hold it close for the payment to be authorized and there’s no signature required.

#2 Digital Wallet Payments

With more and more buyers carrying around their smartphones and getting used to using them for all sorts of things, digital wallets have become a standard in most consumers’ day-to-day lives. Today’s smartphones can facilitate contactless payments without the need for the buyer to have any sort of physical debit or credit card with them. This is both convenient and secure. 

For this to work, your checkout would need to have an NFC-enabled terminal and the customer’s phone will need to have a digital wallet installed, like Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay. To complete payment, the customer will open their digital wallet app, select the saved card with which they want to pay, and hold their device close to your terminal.

To verify the payment, the customer’s device will ask for Touch ID, Face ID, or their passcode, preventing fraudulent transactions on a stolen device. Your terminal will not require any signature, meaning the buyer doesn’t need to touch any public surface to make the payment. 

A digital wallet provides more payment options, too, since a buyer can connect credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, and even their bank account so they can pay in whatever way is most convenient to them.

#3 Handheld Payment Terminal

Mobile and handheld card readers are not completely touch-free, but they do require less handling by the customer than a traditionally mounted terminal. These terminals are ideal for curbside payments, like for restaurants and stores that offer parking lot handover of merchandise. 

The handheld unit will be brought out by an attendant, even straight to a diner’s table, where the customer can insert or slide their card. You can also find mobile readers, which feature a magnetic stripe reader that inserts into a smartphone or other device’s headphone jack or equivalent port. This makes for a highly mobile solution that can go anywhere your workers do.

The touchscreen of the device allows for PIN entry, signatures, or any other thing that may be necessary to facilitate the transaction. These readers are ideal if you need on-the-spot payments and portability that other devices don’t offer. 

#4 Online Ordering with Curbside

Digital ordering, pay-ahead, buying online, and pick-up in-store purchases have all become much more popular over the past year. That’s because they allow customers to make their selection, submit payment, and then swing by your location to get their purchase. Not only does this eliminate the need for in-person payment, making for a touch-less checkout, but it also eliminates the need for the customer to wander aisles or even go inside your location if you offer curbside pickup.

Offering an online checkout process can be quite the feat, especially if you’re a brick-and-mortar store with no experience in eCommerce. However, if you begin seriously considering this solution, you’ll quickly realize that there are all sorts of tools to help you accept orders through an app or website with relative ease.

Not only does digital ordering reduce touch-work in your stores, but it can also increase sales by giving buyers new ways to browse your offerings and make their purchases. Curbside pickup is definitely here to stay, so this may be a wise way to expand and take another step into the digital era if it’s something you believe customers will enjoy.

Grow Your Business with NMA

Pay-by-touch solutions come in many flavors, so figuring out which one is ideal for your business isn’t always easy. Ultimately, many companies are choosing to implement a few of these options to give their customers the best experience possible. Whether you’re considering online ordering, an NFC-enabled terminal, or something else, NMA can help connect you with the right solutions. At NMA, we believe in offering A Merchant Account That Works For You(™). That means the best in service, options, and price to help you grow your small business in a way that puts more profit in your pocket. Interested in learning more about NMA and how we can help you? Explore our offerings.