Tap to Pay: the payment revolution?

Tap to Pay is the culmination of decades of technological development and innovation in wireless communication and electronic payment systems. The new Tap to Pay payment method turns your smartphone into a payment terminal, accepting secure contactless transactions.

How does it work? Is it secure? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Here are all the answers.

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What is Tap to Pay? 

Also known as "Tap To Phone", "Tap On Phone" and "Soft POS", Tap to Pay is an innovative new contactless payment method where customers can make transactions simply by approaching their bank card or compatible device to the restaurant owner's smartphone.

Simply put, Tap to Pay is a new way to cash your customers' transactions using your smartphone or tablet, without a payment terminal. Customers simply place their bankcard or smartphone on the restaurateur's NFC-enabled phone.

For the record, it was Visa and Mastercard who first launched the "Tap on Phone" and "Tap to Phone" technologies. These enabled users to pay by bringing their credit card close to a compatible payment terminal. Apple later popularized this concept under the name "Tap to Pay", making this payment method accessible to a wide audience, thanks to the brand's reputation and dynamism.

👉 To find out more: The different means of payment in fast-food restaurants

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How does Tap to Pay work? 

This contactless mobile payment method is very easy to use, both for the restaurateur and the customer:

1. The restaurateur launches the Tap to Pay payment application on his smartphone.
2. He enters the transaction amount in the application.
3. Customers place their contactless bank card or compatible device (smartphone, connected watch, etc.) close to the NFC antenna on the restaurateur's smartphone.
4. The transaction is validated instantly or after a verification step.

Tap to Pay uses NFC (Near Field Communication) technology to enable short-range wireless communication between the smartphone equipped with the Tap to Pay application and the customer's payment terminal. 

But not all smartphones are equipped with NFC technology. To find out whether this is the case, we recommend you consult the instructions supplied with your device, or the manufacturer's website.

👉 Find out more: Contactless restaurant payments: definition, benefits and risks

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Tap to Pay terms and conditions of use in France

Here's how to activate Tap to Pay in your establishment: 

Partners and applications available on the market

To access Tap to Pay, restaurateurs need to sign up with a provider that offers this new payment method. Among the offers available in France are Revolut Business, Payplug, myPOS, Viva, BNP Paribas, Adyen, etc. 

Each supplier offers different fees, subscriptions and packages: the choice is yours. 

Devices compatible with Tap to Pay  

For Tap to Pay to work, both parties - restaurateurs and customers - must be equipped with NFC technology. Restaurant operators must be equipped with an NFC-compatible device capable of reading contactless payments: smartphone, touch tablets, ordering kiosks, etc. 

For their part, customers must also have an NFC-compatible means of payment: contactless CB, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, connected watch, etc. 

For security reasons, the maximum amount of a Tap to Pay payment is limited to €50 per CB transaction (source: Service-public.fr). On the other hand, there is no amount limit for transactions recorded on e-wallets (Google Wallet, Apple Pay, Apple Watch, Samsung Pay...).

What are the advantages of Tap to Pay in the restaurant business? 

In a world where every second counts, Tap to Pay revolutionizes transactions, offering a fluid and secure experience for restaurateurs and customers alike: 

For restaurateurs : 

• Transaction speed : significant reduction in payment processing time.
• Reduced costs: fees are very low compared to the cost of purchasing or leasing a VSE. 
• Reduced queues: improved customer experience and potential increase in footfall.
• Payment security : use of advanced technologies and transaction encryption to reduce the risk of fraud.
• Easy integration: compatible with most modern payment terminals, often requiring only a software update.

On the customer side : 

• Convenience and speed: instant payments without the need to handle change or search for a wallet.
• Enhanced security: secure technologies protect payment information.
• Improved customer experience: shorter checkout times and time savings. 

👉 To go further: How to improve the customer experience in a restaurant?

Focus on one of the significant advantages of Tap to Pay: personal data protection

• Data security: Tap to Pay uses tokenization. This is a method that replaces sensitive card information with a unique token at the time of each transaction. In plain English, this means that CB data is never exposed during payment, reducing the risk of theft of your customers' data!

• Advanced encryption: During a Tap to Pay transaction, data is encrypted, ensuring that information cannot be intercepted or used fraudulently by a malicious person.

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What Tap to Pay solutions are available for restaurateurs?

For restaurateurs looking to integrate Tap to Pay into their business, Innovorder offers several tailored, high-performance solutions.

Innovorder cash registers

‍TheInnovorder Nano and Innovorder Move models, equipped with the IO Pay payment solution, transform these touch tills into terminals capable of accepting Tap to Pay payments. This simplifies the payment process for customers, while offering a modern, reliable solution for restaurateurs. These tills offer optimum compatibility with contactless bank cards, meal-ticket cards, and e-wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.

👉 Discover Innovorder's Tap to Pay compatible checkouts

Control terminals‍

For establishments wishing to streamline the customer experience, order terminals equipped with NFC technology are a good complement to cash registers. These kiosks enable customers to place and pay for their orders autonomously, avoiding queues and improving the overall experience. They are ideal for busy establishments, offering a practical and efficient solution.

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What does the future hold for Tap to Pay in France? 

The future outlook for Tap to Pay is promising. With the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the meteoric integration of NFC technology into our everyday devices, the possibilities for using Tap to Pay are multiplying. Because of its simplicity and efficiency, Tap to Pay is becoming increasingly popular worldwide, particularly in a context where speed of transaction is essential. 

The rise of Tap to Pay in France shows a growing desire to move towards more flexible, technologically advanced payments. Businesses, large and small, need to stay at the forefront of these developments to take full advantage of the benefits offered by Tap to Pay.

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Would you like personalized assistance with your cash and payment solutions to reduce your restaurant's structural costs?

Contact an Innovorder consultant who will answer all your questions!