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The Rise of Contactless Card Readers During COVID-19

The Rise of Contactless Card Readers During COVID-19

by Michael Roche - October 21, 2020

Of all the ways COVID-19 continues to impact how business is conducted in the US and worldwide, the rise of contactless card readers certainly counts among them.

As of this past June, Forbes reports that contactless payments in the US had risen 150%. Given the many uncertainties surrounding daily life, our economy, and COVID-19, it seems more than plausible this upward trend will continue.

At Arcane, our Stripe Terminal Standalone POS pairs with two contactless readers: VerifoneP400 and BBPOS Chipper (coming October 2020). That means whatever your customer’s in-person payment method, you’ll be able to accept their money.

Side note: If you’re running an e-commerce site on WordPress, you can convert your WooCommerce store into a point-of-sale checkout portal with our Stripe Terminal for WooCommerce plugin when paired with the Verifone P400 Stripe terminal, WooCommerce, and WooCommerce Stripe Gateway plugin version 4.2+.

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For customers who are slower to adopt the increasingly popular “contactless” hover and tap payment methods offered by many credit card companies – as well as Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay – both the VerifoneP400 and BBPOS Chipper still accommodate traditional payments methods like “chip” and “swipe” credit card transactions … So, however your customers are choosing to pay, we’ve got you covered at Arcane.

If you’re wondering about the security of your customers’ transactions, don’t fret: alongside chip transactions, contactless card readers can offer a comparable level of protection against identify theft.

Like chip credit card transactions, contactless card payment methods typically don’t log the customer’s personal details (i.e. name, card number, credit card security code). So, in comparison to magnetic-stripe swipe transactions, for example, both chip and contactless transactions are a big step up when it comes to transaction security.

Of course, contactless card readers for electronic point of sale (EPOS) systems are just one of the many technological advancements that can help us better navigate life during a pandemic…

If it’s feasible for your customers to transact with you virtually, you can bet that they’ll appreciate having that option – and that’s why if you’re running a business that takes payments over the phone, it’s important to run a well-optimized web app to turn your computer into a virtual terminal for accepting payments.

But again: for any transactions that must happen at point of sale, offering options for contactless payments to your customers is quickly becoming the norm.

It’s also worth noting that – even independent of COVID-19 considerations – contactless payments offer advantages to “chip” and “swipe” transactions. Most importantly, when they go off without a hitch, they happen much faster than traditional credit card transactions. These transactions can be fraction-of-a-second fast. This can mean higher customer satisfaction, in addition to increased sales and profit for your business.

So whether you’re striving to immunize your business against further pandemic fallout or simply to enhance your customer satisfaction at point of sale, our Stripe terminal may be the solution for you.

Interested in our cloud-based PCI-Compliant Stripe POS? Explore your options here – or if you’re operating on WooCommerce, explore plans for our Stripe Terminal for WooCommerce to turn your store into a point-of-sale checkout portal.



About The Author:
Michael Roche