contactless payments
seeking to deliver omnichannel services
or to manage their multiple kiosk
estates through a single merchant
portal. To ensure the flexibility required,
kiosk owners should check and make
sure that any payment platform
specified is both open and agnostic.
This is so they can accommodate entire
estates irrespective of vendor, form
factor or channel.
future, kiosk strategies should include
the following priorities:
Go contactless
In 2016, UK consumers spent £25billion
using contactless payments. And 55%
of all transactions below the contactless
spending limit of £30 are now being
performed using contactless technology.
The success of contactless means that
fewer people are carrying cash than ever.
Champion mobile and loyalty
Contactless acceptance is enabling a
greater number of kiosks to take mobile
payments from near field communication
(NFC) devices and apps such as Apple
Pay and Android Pay. Mobile payment
has the potential to take kiosks beyond
value transactions using their connected
networks and apps to unlock new
services for kiosk solutions like loyalty
and rewards. All delivered straight to
consumers’ mobile phones.
Ensure connectivity
While transactions from unattended
devices can be made offline, devices are
now expected to be connected with a
physical connection or via wireless. Visa
has mandated that if devices can be
connected this must be done, although
there are some exceptions.
Focus on fit-for-purpose
Don’t compromise on performance. A
kiosk that’s not working won’t generate
sales. Reliability with longer life and
lower operational costs with energy-
saving features for more remote
locations are vital. Look for high
performance components that are
easy to customise and install for rapid
deployment and effortless upgrades.
Increase security
Providing card payments at remote
and unstaffed locations creates new
challenges in terms of security. When
you connect unattended devices to the
Internet the risk increases even further.
That’s why today’s unattended devices
need to have more security features
than ever. It’s no longer simply about
compliance, it’s about moving beyond
that with point-to-point encryption
(P2PE) and tokenisation.
Connect services
A greater number of merchants are
Looking forward
To expand and evolve beyond existing
markets, unattended payment and
kiosk devices must add value to the
omnichannel experience and, make
it easier for customers to start and
finish their shopping journey in
different channels. That means allowing
merchants to include them in fast-
tracking new services such as click
and collect, in-store web browsing and
personalised mobile-based promotions.
And to also take on new roles as
physical contact hubs for digital and
online services.
As merchants and integrators look
for ways to connect their devices to each
other and to the wider retail ecosystem,
we will see investment in more powerful
platforms and managed services. This
will bring advanced security, greater
speed, reliability and faster time to
market. But to truly exploit these
opportunities integrators must support
development by investing now in new
components, better connectivity and
customised solutions.
In turn, vendors must continue
to deliver robust and reliable devices
that work for the user, open and
agnostic platforms, new cloud capability
and more flexible tools to advance
and safeguard this new connected
ecosystem. By doing so, the kiosk
will continue to deliver freedom,
convenience and access. Adding value
for modern consumers of all ages no
matter where their sales journey takes
them, or how they choose to pay. n
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