I hope this isn’t terminal

[Dave Birch] As you know, I do like to try out new retail payment technology in person rather than rely on other people’s Powerpoint to assess the state of play. And I also like prosaic examples of cash replacement, particularly taxis, since I see it as a hallmark of a civilised society that you can pay a taxi without needing cash.

In the back of a cab in Singapore I saw this:

Hurrah! Armed with two phones and several contactless cards I looked forward to my end of ride payment experience. When we got to the airport, the guy rang up the fare. The options on the terminal were “credit” and some others. He selected “credit”, but no contactless option was visible. So he went back and selected contactless (I can’t remember what the menu item actually was). An EZ-Link logo appeared on the screen but no Visa or MC logos. Just out of curiosity, I tapped a MasterCard NFC phone on the terminal. Oh dear.

He chose “Restart” but nothing seemed to happen. Gulp. I didn’t have any Singapore Dollars with me so I gave the poor chap a US $20 bill along with my profuse apologies. It looks like the NFC infrastructure needs a little more work in places.

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Consult Hyperion or any of its clients or suppliers