Coffee Republic completes contactless payments trial

Coffee Republic completed a successful trial with Barclaycard's technology

Coffeeshop chain Coffee Republic is to equip all its shops with contactless payment terminals following a successful four-month trial.

The pilot was carried out at 16 outlets in Canary Wharf, Broadgate and Bluewater Shopping Mall, using Barclaycard’s business contactless technology OneTouch.

The bank is in talks with the company’s entire franchisee conglomerate to fit the terminals across their outlets in the next 12 months. The chain’s UK operations are comprised of 16 company-owned stores, 53 franchised bars and 112 concessions.

It was claimed that one in five credit card transactions at the Canary Wharf outlet were contactless by the end of the trial. On average, 100 contactless transactions were made every month during the trial, corresponding to an 18 per cent share of all credit card payments made.

Drivers behind the decision to use the technology included concerns over the speed of service and the possibility of significantly decreasing the time taken per transaction once orders have been received. It is understood that contactless payments helped relieve heavy customer flows in areas of high traffic during peak retail hours.

“We have seen an incredible appetite for the technology from our customers, in particular our Canary Wharf outlet where knowledge of contactless has proved to be very strong,” said Epos systems manager at Coffee Republic Keisha Meade.

“Customers recognise the technology, understand how to use it and are aware of its advantages such as speed and simplicity,” said Meade.

“Most of our bars only have one terminal so technology such as this can really improve throughput, which is good for business and good for customers.”