Some technology pundits have rightly lamented that tap and pay with credit cards never gained widespread adoption, so why does the industry want to institute the same with the smart phones? There have been many articles written about the success of this venture in some jurisdictions. However, the missing element in all of this is a simple set of instructions that shows how this works. For example, would the general public be open to the technology if they knew answers to the following?

• Exactly how does tap and pay work on a smartphone?
• What are the advantages of using my phone to pay for items?
• Does one have to download an app for this to work?
• After the app is downloaded, what are the next steps in this process?
• Is the app the same for all smart phones?
• Do I need to contact my bank before or after I download the app?
• Is this method faster than swiping with my credit card?

Now these might sound like mundane questions but they are the type of questions consumers will need answers to. This technology will be quickly adopted by the tech savvy minded consumers albeit, with some questions. The other side of that equation will be the types of consumers that have questions like: security, ease-of use and will be very slow to use the product unless, their concerns are addressed.

In an article titled  Tap-and-Pay Phone Tech Isn’t Worth the Hassle by Mark Hachman on CIO.com the author cites some of the challenges that the industry is facing with user adoption. Does this mean that smart phone tap and pay will never gain widespread adoption? No, it just means the industry has to do a much better job at using a simplistic approach to sell a service that has the appearance of being too complex.

As purveyors of technology in the time and attendance solution space, ATS understands that having state of the art software means nothing, if it’s not easy to use.

To learn more about ATS call us at 1.866.294.2467. You can also view our workforce management software on our website or join the conversation on LinkedIn or Twitter.