Credit card readers for restaurant tables: good or bad?
Select restaurants across the country are testing table-based credit card readers that allow customers to pay for food at the table. Fear of last year’s news regarding waitresses and waiters stealing customer credit card information led to the transformation of a new industry involving products that protect consumer credit card information.
Restaurants participating in the beta launch of the credit card reader were initially reluctant to participate because they feared diners would feel rushed. Fast food restaurants like McDonald’s allow customers to pay at the counter with their credit card. Pay at the table is different from pay at the counter because diners are actually seated and served by an employee who works primarily on tips. Waitertalk.com, an online forum for waiters and waitresses to express themselves on topics such as ‘poor tipping customers’ and ‘rogue management’ has formed a discussion forum against these so-called ‘credit card readers at the table’. Waiters and waitresses believe that credit card readers will discourage appropriate tipping, especially at fast-casual restaurants like Ground Round, which typically attract middle-class customers who are inexperienced in tipping and eat at restaurants that are not. belong to chains. Some servers believe that credit card readers will be the main focus of the dining experience and that the machines will not allow them to upsell to the customer because the customer will be thinking more about the bill than the actual dining experience.
In Europe, it is normal to pay at the table; however, the culture of Europe makes paying at the table acceptable. Will pay at the table be the new norm for paying in restaurants, or will Americans not accept this because it is more insurance than convenience? What do you think? Shouldn’t you trust your waiter? The skimming scams at restaurants that grabbed the headlines were part of an isolated incident. However, credit card theft occurs every day at restaurants and other small, direct-to-consumer businesses. These incidents usually go unreported because the victim will not realize they have been scammed until months after the incident. The restaurant credit card theft incidents occurred at the same restaurant over a one-year period and claimed many victims who traced their credit card deductions to a restaurant employee.
The only difference between these table top machines and the restaurant employee processing the transaction is that the restaurant employee will never leave their fingerprints on your plastic. He simply swipes his credit card through the machine and a printer in the waiter’s area prints his receipt. All you have to do is sign and leave a tip. How convenient is this? You don’t have to wait an extra 4 minutes for the server to swipe your card and come back with your card and receipt. Is this convenience or privacy of your most sacred information? Should you trust the person who is serving you food? Most waiters and waitresses put up with a lot of customers to earn less than minimum wage.
Manufacturers are betting that restaurants will buy these new Verifone credit card readers. Readers can cost several hundred dollars each. Restaurants benefit because the checkout process turns tables faster, which helps the restaurant earn more money per table and the server earns more as their “rents” turn quickly.