Simple, Speedy and Secure Retail Payments – Triple S

When it comes to retail payments, the moment of purchase should ideally be just that – a moment, less than a second at most. By then the customer will have been welcomed into the store, seen the options on display, and been given the assistance they required. They’ve made their decision, and their most pressing desire now is to leave – with the item or items they’ve selected.

We know this because 94% of all face to face Visa sales in Australia are contactless, which shows that consumers are fully embracing the ‘triple S’ approach to making retail payments – simple, speedy and secure.

Retail Payment – Simple

Australian consumers today are mostly using cards, but it won’t be long before they will be leaving their wallet at home and using their mobile phones, watches and fitness devices to pay. For some, remembering a PIN number isn’t easy, which is why 87 per cent of Australians say they would happily use their thumb, finger or iris scan to validate payments.

It’s one of the reasons why the Urban Survivalist series of short films featuring comedian Ronny Chieng really struck a chord with people. In it, the comedian and star of the movie ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ finds himself a reluctant contestant in a reality show where he has to survive a day without his wallet. He manages this quite easily, because he has his mobile phone and can buy everything from an elegant suit to a ride on a tandem bike. My favourite scene is when he takes pity on a mother struggling with the demands of a child while trying to pay for her groceries – it’s not that she doesn’t have the money, its more that it is such a hassle getting out the right card from her wallet to pay.

Retail Payment – Speedy

A simple and speedy experience at the point-of-sale is critical to ensuring you provide your customers with the best service. You don’t want to deter customers from spending due to long queues or reconsidering a big-ticket item because the payment process isn’t seamless. You want them to know it’s going to be a good experience every time they enter your business, whether in-store or online.

Retail Payment – Secure

And then there is that third ‘s’- which is equally, if not more, important – security. No business can afford to take a risk with something as fundamental as payments. Fraud is always present, and it can cause retailers significant distress, not least because chargebacks are not part of business planning but can result in an unforeseen hit on your bottom line. This is where processing your retail payments with a large global player in the payments space, one that invests in robust payments security and fast processing capability, makes a lot of sense. You need to know that payment transactions are being protected by some of the industry’s most advanced analytics and fraud detection technology to ensure you and your customers can transact with confidence.

It is after all, only a moment, but getting that payment experience right is absolutely fundamental to becoming a successful retailer.