Aussie businesses urged to make changes before August 1

As of August 1 2014, PIN + chip will become the main form of card payment authorisation for businesses across Australia.

The move will nullify signatures as a form of verification for Australian credit and debit card transactions. Of those affected, the hospitality industry will clearly be hit the hardest, with the new policy causing major concerns for business owners and operators of bars, pubs and clubs:

• Without the customer’s PIN, venues can’t charge their credit card if the patron leaves without paying their tab, resulting in potentially significant, unfair costs to venues
• Unclosed bar tabs will result in unbalanced tills and will complicate stocktake & inventory
• Venues will need to invest in more payment terminals and will consequently have to pay higher fees to the banks as they increase the number of terminals on-site
• Longer queues at the bar while people key in their PINs means staff will spend more time processing payments rather than serving customers
• If patrons don’t come back to the claim the card, venues have no legal recourse to obtain the money by contacting the card holder’s bank, leading to lost revenue.
• Businesses won't be able to compete to attract better staff; less tips in a venue, means less incentive for staff to provide good customer service.

Clipp, an iOS and Android bar tab app that lets customers start, manage and pay their bar or pub tab using their smartphone, is offering solutions for all of these problems.

Hundreds of bars and pubs across Australia such as The Argyle, Mrs Sippy, The Lobo Plantation, Martin Place Bar, Gin Palace, and Bar Ampere are already using Clipp because of the benefits it provides:

• Clipp’s technology integrates seamlessly with a venue’s existing Point of Sale system so publicans aren’t slugged with unnecessary, additional costs of new hardware.
• Venues are guaranteed payment on all Clipp transactions.
• Clipp is PCI compliant and will help reduce credit card fraud as sensitive credit card information stays with the customer.
• Staff are able to focus on serving customers rather than process payments at the bar because Clipp’s customers open & close tabs from their smartphones.
• Clipp gives venues full visibility on all Clipp tabs & customer purchasing data, in real-time.
• Before closing the tab on their smartphone, the customer is presented with an option of adding a tip to their order.

Greg Taylor, the co-founder of Clipp, fears that Aussie businesses won’t make necessary changes before August 1.

“The new PINwise changes are just around the corner, and businesses are slow to adapt. Most venues have 2 or 3 cards left behind the bar each night, but larger establishments could have upwards of 10, 20 or 30 cards left behind. If those customers don't come back, venues have no recourse for recovering that revenue.

“Venues that are Clipp integrated have the ability to close tabs directly through their POS systems, eliminating the risk of lost sales and the domino effect that has on stock management and accounting. Clipp is a great solution for the hospitality industry, but many other industries will also be affected. It’s important they know what August 1 changes mean, and how they can prevent from negatively being impacted by the changes.”

Jared Merlino, owner of Lobo Plantation, a Sydney bar that uses Clipp and has won several awards in recent years, including Time Out 2014 People's Choice Award, is worried about the negative impact on speed of service for other venues:

"The August 1 changes may have a negative impact on the speed of service. Bars and pubs may elect not to run tabs, due to the risk of not being able to close any outstanding ones at the end of service without access to the patrons’ PIN."

"This means, without being able to leave a credit card behind the bar, patrons will need to line-up and pay every time they want to order. This will result in longer wait times for all patrons.

"Clipp eliminates these problems. Clipp communicates with the patrons bank to approve the account before any orders can be placed. Also, in the event that a customer doesn't pay at the end of the night, or forgets to, Clipp lets venues close any Clipp bar tab through their own existing POS software. Risk is reduced, speed and efficiency increased. Got to be happy with that!,” said Jared.

Source:  whatech.com - 9th July 2014