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Ask HN: Why hasn't anyone disrupted the restaurant credit card payment process?

• pwg 9y ago
  > 2.) Customer can open an app, This assumes that /every/ customer: 1) has an appropriate cell phone (i.e., ios and android apps are incompatible with each other's devices) 2) is willing to install said app Both assumptions fall down when a customer arrives who: 1) has no cell phone or 2) is unwilling (due to privacy or other reasons) to install said app (I would fall into this category myself, I'm not /ever/ installing random restaurant X's app in order to make a payment) or 3) left their cell phone behind in car/office/at home, etc. The current process works no matter the technical level (user or device) of the customer.
  • jc_811 9y ago
    Definitely understand those limitations. I guess in my perfect world both systems would exists simultaneously until there was a critical mass years in the future and the old system was gradually faded out.
• jeffmould 9y ago
  I managed a restaurant that had pay at the table capabilities. All the servers had handheld tablets with the capability to scan cards and print receipts. There are also existing systems that allow for the customer to order and pay direct from table with minimal interaction from server (basically the server just brings food/drinks or answers questions). The problem these solutions have not taken off is two-fold. First, as you said the restaurant industry is slow to adopt new technology. Margins are low on most food items so the expenditure on new technology can be a deal breaker. The bigger problem we ran into though was the equipment/software was buggy at times and would often result in longer delays. Also, servers would drop tablets, get them wet, and other non-intentional actions that would break the devices. Oddly, on occasion some customers were skeptical. They were used to the "old" way and when you present them with a machine to scan their card right in front of them they would hesitate as if you were trying to scam them. While we didn't allow customers to do the process themselves, meaning we didn't leave our tablets at the table, I do know some places that do. From what I have heard, it can often lead to customers sitting longer. Once they feel they are in control of the entire ordering/payment process they no longer feel "rushed" by the server and tend to sit/talk longer. This leads to greater delays.
  • jc_811 9y ago
    Great point in the last paragraph, that's something I hadn't considered. I suppose in the US with our heavy tip culture, having customers in & out is extremely important to servers. Having customers just hanging out at the table wouldn't be in their best interest. I wonder if there would be some way to let the customer control the process, while still having them subconsciously feel "rushed" at the end with the desire to leave.
    • dragonwriter 9y ago
      > I suppose in the US with our heavy tip culture, having customers in & out is extremely important to servers. Irrespective of tip culture, it's important to restaurant owners; restaurant revenue is limited by prices, capacity, and the ability to turn tables. Peak flow (and thus mostly staffing requirements and staffing costs, since you have to be able to serve your peak flow, as, loosely, is space cost) is limited by capacity, so if you lose ability to turn tables, you are losing revenue without proportional reduction in costs. If people on average sit for 10% longer with similar orders, menu priced need to be more than 10% higher to compensate, and that's before considering lost unit sales to the price increase.
• corvallis 9y ago
  I pay cash at restaurants and many other people still use cash over credit cards. How would you integrate these patrons? Could I still leave my cash on the table and leave? What about people without smart phones (of whom there are still quite a few)? What happens if someone’s phone runs out of charge while at dinner? What happens when grandparent wants to take grandkid out for lunch and realizes s/he needs to download an app in order to pay? On a smartphone that s/he may not have? Or with a very limited data plan that won’t allow them to download the app at the restaurant? I agree there is always room for improvement, but the system now isn’t so broken that it needs a technology driven “disruption” that you are describing. I would personally not be interested in downloading yet another payment app with questionable security practices.
• clintonb 9y ago
  Exactly what problems need solving here? Cardholders aren't on the hook for fraud. If you are in a hurry, you can tell your server to provide the check with your food, and pay before you're done eating.
• dragonwriter 9y ago
  You could more simply do the most of the same things with optional-to-use credit card terminals at the table, which avoids the customer needing a smartphone or a particular app installed on it; there are places trialing these now. If you support the contactless payment systems, you get most of the user advantages of a smartphone app without actually having to develop an app or rely on customers adding their card to yet another payment app. The main thing your version has I'd the status integration, but that means if the service ever has downtime, restaurants using it lose both the ability for people to pay with it and their tracking of who has paid. > However, in my mind I feel like this would be a game-changer and any restaurant that does this consumers would love. If you are a restaurant and you are going to force me to use an app to use a credit card, either: (1) That app is Google Pay, or (2) I'm not eating there unless I happen to have planned in advance to bring cash, which is an inconvenience that weighs against you.