If you were in any doubt that the world is going cash-free, just take a look at the latest World Payments Report from the Royal Bank of Scotland. The exhaustive annual study, put together by consultancy Capgemini, predicts that payments by credit and debit cards and other non-cash methods increased 9% last year to a whopping 390 billion transactions. With innovations including mobile and contactless set to drive the trend forward in mature markets, the time has come for merchants to make sure they’re not left behind by their competitors.
The new normal
The report – which concentrates on figures for 2012-13 – is a mammoth 60 pages long, but it can be summarised pretty easily. In short, businesses still not offering their customers the choice to pay by anything other than cash risk hitting the self-destruct button. Growth in non-cash transaction volumes from 2012-13 was understandably highest in emerging Asia regions (22%), with China (38%) leading the way. However, growth rates also increased in the US (4.7%, up from 3.3% in 2011-12) and Europe (5.1%, up from 3.6%).
Finland was named as having the largest number of non-cash transactions per inhabitant (451), and was followed by the US (390) and South Korea (338). But the UK got a mention, with non-cash transactions growing 6.7% from 2012-13 to reach 302 per inhabitant.
With the growing adoption of contactless and mobile payments in mature markets, and EMV finally seeing mass take-up in the US, this growth will show no signs of abating, according to RBS.
From a business point-of-view it should really be a no-brainer by now to offer customers the means to pay by card. Quite simply it will mean bigger till receipts. We’re an increasingly cashless society which means consumers are less likely to carry pounds and pennies around with them. Accept only cash and you could be unwittingly missing out on sales. Not only that but with contactless payments, Apple Pay and chip and PIN, cashless transactions can be faster and more secure. You could even save money on bank charges by handling less cash and reduce losses from cash shrinkage.
Beyond cashless: the Miura difference
If you’ve made the decision to invest in card machines, there’s so much choice out there that it can be intimidating. No two providers are the same, so it’s important to shop around for the option which suits you. Many merchants will appreciate the flexibility of a mobile Point of Sale system so they can roam the store or take the device with them on the road to external events. Those with high volume, low value sales will benefit from added contactless capabilities. And those on the cutting edge might well be looking at Apple Pay and Samsung Pay support to give customers the widest choice of payment options possible.
We can do all of that with three main models depending on the type and size of your business:
Miura Shuttle – for retailers, micro merchants and business people on the move. The world’s smallest and lightest chip and PIN device, which connects to a smartphone or tablet to take simple, speedy and reliable payments.
M007 – a versatile chip and PIN device to serve those merchants who undertake high volumes of card payments but are keen to have a device that offers them a truly mobile option.
M010 – offering both SME and larger merchants queue busting, countertop in-store and mobile out-of-store options.
