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Who's Getting Pay-By-Phone Right? The Fast Food Industry
jfruh writes "Techno-enthusiasts have been predicting for years that cell phones will become one of the main means that we use to pay for items — but most Americans stubbornly cling to cash and credit cards, mostly because cash and credit cards are infinitely more convenient. In order to woo people into buying things electronically, merchants need to make phone purchases better than traditional payment systems, not just another option. The fast food industry is leading the way with a plethora of apps that make ordering remotely a snap."
You mean people who are too young or too poor to have a credit card use this to buy fatfood?
Who would have thought?
If as the summary says, cash and cards are infinitely more convenient, why then is clinging to them to be considered stubborn?
Because the author is a moron. Cash and cards are NOT more convenient, they are less convenient. When I go out, I always take my phone so people can contact me. So if I can use my phone to buy stuff, then I don't need to carry cash or cards. Where I live (California) I don't even need a wallet to drive, because it is legal to show a cop a photo of my drivers license on my phone. As soon as I can start my car and open my front door with the NFC chip in my phone, then I will only need ONE THING in my pocket when I leave my house. What could possibly be more convenient?
The lack of phone-money in America has nothing whatsoever to do with customers being "stubborn". It is because of the fragmentation of the American cellular system, and the lack of cooperation among the vendors. Once they finally agree on a standard, phone-money will be adopted by consumers in America just as quickly as anywhere else.
Actually, cash is quite expensive for a store to handle. They have to pay someone to count out change, and to count it again at the end of the day. They have to pay an armored car service to haul it to a bank (or a small business owner has to drive it to a bank themselves, and they hope they don't get mugged on the way. It's easy to steal, so they have to invest in locked cash drawers and safes.
Cash easily costs more to handle than credit cards. Even after figuring in card fraud and bad debt, credit cards save retailers money.
John