M-Payment: Contactless Payment at McDonald’s
- NFC technologies are in constant progression in the UK and McDonald's announces that 1,200 fast-foods would be equipped with mobile contactless payment devices in summer 2011. This migration required a 1.5 million pounds investment.
- Payments cannot exceed 15 pounds and the customer does not have to dial his PIN code; he can choose between paying with his NFC enabled card and using his smartphone.
- The notions of time saving and queue management are especially important in fast-foods, and McDonald’s placed hem at the heart of their strategy. In France, the McCaféLive based in La Défense (Puteaux) installed an online ordering solution implemented by AIRTAG. The consumer pays online for his menu which is prepared in advance according to his defined time of arrival.
- Several large scale brands are now interested in implementing contactless solutions. In January, after several months of tests in the US, Starbucks launched its mobile payment application, Starbucks Card Mobile.
See January 2011 Watch
- Yet another example, the renowned German car manufacturer BMW, launched an NFC key. This device could be linked to the car’s navigation system and include a payment function thus allowing the driver to book a room or his train tickets in a contactless mode (the tickets would then be loaded on his key, latter to be presented during the travel).
- In the UK, a partnership between the pioneering player in the implementation of contactless payment solution, Barclaycard, and the network operator Everything Everywhere (merger of the British brands of Orange and T-Mobile) should contribute to spread mobile contactless payment. This commercial launch should take place during the second quarter 2011. Gemalto also takes part in this project as TSM for Barclays and ensures the efficiency and security when loading the payment accounts in the mobile phones. It should be reminded that about 40,000 compatible terminals are already installed in a large number of UK retailers and that more than eleven million contactless cards are currently in circulation.