Seattle, USA: Staff are 'road-testing' Amazon Go, an 1800 sq ft, ambitious retail store where people just pick up a product and…Go…without stopping to pay.
Upper Hutt, New Zealand: Boneface Brewing is similarly embracing a contactless payments system they see as the dawn of the future.
If the two scenes seem far apart, they aren't. Well, geographically speaking they are but in the fast-growing payments world, business success and customer satisfaction are moving ever closer together.
Selena Dainty, a director of Boneface Brewing along with husband and co-founder Matt, says the business uses BNZ's PayClip – a contactless terminal that allows payments to be made using mobile phones and contactless cards.
Its mobility means servers can simply arrive at the table and, in the blink of an eye, payment is made with no fuss and minimum interruption to the customers' fun – no painful wait in a long queue when it's pay-up time.
Boneface is a new player in the craft beer industry, with their brews complementing food from their kitchen.
It opened its doors in August and is already growing fast – and Selena Dainty says the PayClip system is an integral part of the way they want to do business.
"It is quicker and easier for both customer and server," she says. "It means we can serve a lot of people a lot faster and that speed means we can spend more time with the customer and bring them the sort of service which keeps them coming back."
Amazon Go is at the sharpest end of the contactless payments industry, an ever-changing, fast-progressing scene which has the potential to disrupt the retail sector globally.
Amazon are still ironing out the kinks in their contactless grocery/convenience store but the idea is that when customers enter the store, they activate the Amazon Go app on their smartphone. The store then uses cameras and sensors to track everything the customer does. They can then choose a product and leave – with the money deducted from an account via the app…no till, no queue.
Selena Dainty says Boneface are also considering a new system which will do essentially the same thing – but only for regular customers: "We think that would be a good thing for us to do for our regulars as it will heighten the experience for them."
"It's not just a matter of keeping up with change, it's a question of how it [up to date contactless payments] benefits our business."
Ross Jackson, BNZ's Head of Cards & Payments, says many businesses are still discovering the commercial opportunities created by New Zealand consumers' enthusiasm for mobile and contactless payments – the beginning of a new wave of ways people will pay.
BNZ is the only bank enabling customers to make payments through their phones and other mobile devices with the recently-launched Apple Pay, as well as Android Pay – allowing simple and secure in store payments and in-app payments for online purchase with one touch from their mobile device.
Jackson says some estimates suggest more than 70 per cent of Kiwis are using some form of contactless payment and, in December last year, 57 per cent of all face-to-face Visa transactions were made using Visa payWave.
"Those embracing it [contactless payments] vary from sector to sector and retailer to retailer," says Jackson, "and clearly there is real application in quick service environments – like coffee shops and food. Their customer service and queue times can be much faster and there is much demand from customers to make their experience quick and hassle-free."
Jackson says many businesses are recognising gains in adopting the latest technologies: "New Zealanders have a history of quickly adopting useful technology and payment forms that make life easy. EFTPOS began decades ago but grew very quickly after introduction."
"Digital technology is already integrated into people's daily lives and customers are constantly connected accessing information and purchasing goods across mobile, tablet and desktop. Soon that will include Internet of Things (IOT) devices such as Google Home.
"The fundamental changes from universal connectivity may not yet be fully apparent but many businesses are looking at innovation to give customers greater ease and less hassle; the growth and use of devices and data will again increase New Zealanders' appetite and expectations for improved customer experiences brought by new technologies."