Growing Popularity of Contactless Payments During The COVID-19 Pandemic
In this age of digital transformation, contactless payments are no longer considered a novelty. As of today, we have a variety of digital wallets, mobile apps, and tap-to-pay cards to enable faster contactless payments. Besides, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, cash transactions have become the least preferred mode of payment. Therefore, a majority of retailers, merchants, and store owners now have NFC-enabled point-of-sale (PoS) systems in place to accept touch-free payments.
Even after a year and a half into the pandemic, most countries are yet to control the rampant pandemic situation. That said, it is critical that we follow social distancing norms and COVID-appropriate behavior to keep the virus at bay. It is, therefore, essential for retailers to stay on the ball and avail POS software development services and render support for contactless payments.
Here, we highlight the main benefits of contactless payments and their importance for the post-COVID-19 world.
Benefits of POS Software Development For Contactless Payments
Since the early days of the pandemic, contactless payments rose in popularity, becoming the preferred payment mode in many industries. Nevertheless, in addition to avoiding unnecessary contacts, this type of payment offers a number of benefits to sellers and customers alike. Let’s move ahead and delve into the main benefits of custom POS software development for contactless payments.
Faster Transactions
Contactless payments are faster than most card-based payments as the transactions are approved in just a few seconds. On average, a touchless transaction takes 10 seconds to complete which is twice as fast as normal payments. Therefore, having NFC-enabled POS terminals would ultimately reduce queues at the checkout counter by processing transactions with a faster turnaround time.
Secure Payments
The NFC-enabled cards, like most modern-day credit and debit cards, use EMV chips instead of magnetic tapes. The EMV cards incorporate a smart microprocessor chip to safeguard the credentials of the cardholder. Even during the transaction, it performs cryptographic computations to make direct communication the point-of-sale (POS) terminal as well as the processing network. Similarly, mobile apps like Apple Pay and Google Pay use end-to-end encryption and top-tier security algorithms to protect users’ data and account information.
Increased User Convenience
Understandably, contactless payments are faster, convenient, and more user-intensive since you do not need to enter any personal identification number (PIN). These no-touch payments are not only limited to credit/debit cards as you may choose to pay via smartphones, tablets, and even smartwatches. Most importantly, it helps you avoid unnecessary exposure and physical contact that is critical to keep the coronavirus at bay.
More Focus On Digitization
The advent of contactless payment technology encourages customers to abandon cash payments, shifting the focus to digital transactions. The use of contactless cards and e-wallets has already become mainstream in many countries. As we step into a post-COVID world, contactless payments are poised to dominate the digital payments landscape with promising future prospects.
Closing Remarks
During the early days of the pandemic, there was a sharp increase in the adoption of contactless payments. According to a Payments Journal survey of March 2020, there was a 30 percent growth in contactless payments since the COVID-19 outbreak. Now, as we move towards a post-pandemic world, contactless payments are going to be more crucial than ever. Therefore, it’s high time that retailers and merchants should upgrade their point-of-sale (POS) systems to enable touchless payments.
Why Choose Oodles ERP For POS Software Development?
We are a seasoned ERP development company that specializes in building enterprise-grade software solutions to address varying business requirements. Our custom ERP development services are conducive to improving business productivity by implementing next-gen technologies like Cloud, Big Data, and Business Intelligence (BI). We provide custom POS software development services to support all major payment modes including contactless payment features. Our development team is skilled at using open-source software platforms like Odoo, OFBiz, and ERPNext to build feature-rich business applications for industry-specific needs. To learn more about our POS software development services, drop us a line at erp@oodles.io.
