How our love of tapping is changing our lives

Remember when a phone was an implement you used to talk to someone in another location?

Nowadays our phones are a key element of our daily lives.

Tap. Pay. Done. 

That simple, secure, and increasingly mobile action has transformed the shopping experience and unlocked opportunities for small businesses worldwide.

Visa this week announced that Tap to Phone has experienced a 200% increase in usage over the past year, supporting millions of sellers of all sizes.

In the highest Tap to Phone countries - the US, UK, and Brazil - adoption rates have surged, showing a combined growth rate of 234%.

Tap to Phone expanded Visa’s tap capabilities with a technology that turns a smartphone into a point-of-sale (POS) device, simply by downloading an app.

With nearly 30% of Tap sellers being new small businesses, this technology is helping to democratise access to commerce tools and empower microsellers and SMBs (small and mid-sized businesses)  around the world to start accepting contactless payments by using their NFC-enabled smartphones.

“Tap to Phone is a tech equalizer for businesses. Walk into some of the world’s largest retailers or go to your local farmer’s market and they’re using this same technology to accept payments right on their phone,” said Mark Nelsen, global head of consumer products, Visa.

Ariel Davis, owner an upcycling business in New York that gives new life to vintage china, says Tap to Phone technology helped her pivot to open an in-person studio for customers. Notably absent from her compact space is a desk, computer setup or register.

“You don't typically couple vintage china and innovation, but in some ways, I feel like a tech start-up because we're always trying to figure out what's going to make this experience the best for our customers and the latest technology that will take us there,” said Davis.

Call me old fashioned but I worry about losing my phone or having it stolen. And I prefer cash anyway. 

 

Sorry, you'll have to pay more for your beer. It is after 10pm.

Are you ready to pay more for your pint of beer, or glass of wine, because it is late at night?

It's already happening in London.

O’Neill’s, an Irish-themed pub on Wardour Street in Soho, has introduced a surcharge which will add an extra £2 to the price of drinks purchased after 10pm.

To be fair, O'Neill's does offer late-night music, but is this the start of a trend?

O'Neills says on a sign that it operates a “a variable price list”. What that means is that after 10pm, the price it charges for drinks increases, news portal the drinks business reports.

This apparently results in the price of a pint of Brewdog IPA going from £7.40 during the rest of the day to £9.40, while a 500ml bottle of Budweiser {god forbid!) goes up from £6.05 to £8.05. Even a tonic water goes up by £1 under the system, with the price rising to £3.15.

Drinks purchased late in the evening are also served in plastic cups, rather than glass, which makes sense.

O’Neill’s is operated by Mitchells & Butlers, which has several London venues.

A spokesperson for Mitchells & Butlers sent the following statement on its controversial pricing policy to The Independent newspaper: “Most hospitality businesses and retailers deploy a form of dynamic pricing, but this means that prices can both rise as well as fall through tactical discounts being offered in the form of time-limited promotions and fixed price menus.

"Dynamic pricing varies on a site-by-site basis as it reflects the local market conditions, but temporary price increases tend to reflect the need to offset additional costs such as at times when door security is required.”

Complete bollocks, of course.

The BBC and the Daily Mail reported backlash against the policy.