Hospitality goes cashless to protect against fraud

Australia’s cashless economy is growing at such a rate that the nation is predicted to be a cashless society by 2020. And thousands of bars, pubs and restaurants are using payment apps to help make that prediction a reality.

The convenience of mobile payments, deals and bill splitting among patrons is not the only driving force behind the interest. Venues can lose upwards of $3000 on a single weekend from patrons using card payments. Some venues – like Sydney’s Manly Wharf Hotel – have gone so far as to only allow its patrons to set up tabs through apps, such as Clipp, rather than collect credit cards and ID behind the bar, as a way to combat potential fraud. Venues are guaranteed payment on all transactions, with settlement the next business day.

Justin Tynan, General Manager of Sydney’s Manly Wharf Hotel, said, “Since setting up Clipp as the only way customers can create a tab at the Wharf Bar, we have reduced fraud on bar tabs to zero. Before this, we would have around one walkout a week or chargebacks from banks where customers said they weren’t at our venue and as there was no signature, we were liable. We were averaging around $10,000 a year in losses.” He added that such apps are fast, safe and easy for both staff and customers to use, and guarantee payment on all tabs.”

Allan Evans, CEO of Clipp, said, “Credit card fraud is a huge issue in the hospitality industry and we are passionate about making everyone’s lives easier, simpler and safer. Our platform is Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant and works to reduce fraud for venues while keeping the customer’s sensitive credit card information protected for ease of mind.”

Evans said that more and more venues are recognising that there are platforms out there that can help them enhance the customer experience, by allowing venue staff to focus on faster service, shorter queues and getting more patrons served.