Why Canadians Love Pay-At-Table Payment Options

Once upon a time, restaurant patrons were forced to give their credit cards to their waiters in order to pay for their meals. Waiters would take the credit cards to undisclosed locations of their restaurants in order to process the transactions. They would then return with the credit cards along with slips of paper for the credit cardholders to sign. This was commonplace during a time when pay-at-table options were not yet invented.

In today’s world, this type of transaction is no longer necessary. And, by most people’s standards, it’s pretty archaic. Let’s look, firstly, at the fact that giving up your credit card (literally letting it out of your sight in the hands of a complete stranger) isn’t exactly a smart practice if you’re looking to prevent fraudulent activity. This isn’t to say that fraud always occurred in restaurants when credit cards were given up to servers – but it certainly happened more often than it does now.

On Chron.com, Nancy Wagner explains that there are a number of methods by which restaurant owners can prevent fraud from happening in their establishments. Among them is the practice of processing transactions in front of the customers. This advice, by the way, is directed to American restaurateurs – many of which have yet to adopt the pay-at-table practices that are commonplace, here in Canada.

“Move your credit card machine to the front of the reception area where patrons can see the entire credit card transaction take place,” she advises, “While this only works in restaurants where customers pay at the front, this helps keep your staff honest, since it’s harder to swipe the card through a hand-held skimmer device meant to illegally gather credit card numbers if the card is in view of the customer the entire time.”

If you’re getting a bit of a chuckle reading the advice, you’re not alone. To reiterate, Canadian restaurant patrons are quite used to paying at the table by having their waiters bring wireless POS terminals directly to them. With this modern day technology, customers no longer have to fear the possibility of any fraud as they always have their credit cards kept on their persons. They punch in PIN codes, processing the transactions on their own right where they were eating. There’s no need to give their cards up.

Not only does this entire process help to prevent fraud but, quite obviously, it makes the entire transaction so much more convenient. It’s often hard to determine exactly what will be owed by the end of a meal. Between the food order, taxes and tip, most customers can only wage guesses as to what their meals will cost. In other words, having exact change isn’t all that easy. It’s a lot more convenient to simply place the purchase amount on a credit card.

On Wisebread.com, Nora Dunn explains that the “quick and easy” transaction process is one of the top reasons she uses her credit card for everything. Worrying about correct change has become a thing of the past for her. “Swiping or dipping a card these days is often as quick as (if not faster than) paying with cash and counting out coins,” she reveals.

At Canadian POS Corporation, we offer Canadian restaurant owners the Verifone VX 680 as the perfect pay-at-table solution. In fact, it is the perfect terminal for any environment where you need to bring the point of payment to your customers. That includes table-service restaurants, curbside pick-up and nail/beauty salons.

The act of bringing the terminal to the cardholder is known to improve customer satisfaction and cardholder security — the card is always in your customer’s control, helping ensure that cardholder data is never lost or stolen. For more information about the Verifone VX 680, call Canadian POS Corporation at 1-877-748-2884 or email us at info@localhost.