IRVINE Calif. Terminals that let customers settle their tabs by waving a "contactless" payment card near a reader device will be in test at 100 Taco Bell restaurants by the fourth quarter, the 5,800-unit chain said. The move makes Taco Bell one of a growing number of quick-service brands to test or roll out the technology during the past two years.
Officials of Irvine-based Taco Bell said the test may lead to a rollout to about 1,300 company and franchised restaurants of the technology supporting MasterCard's PayPass cards and other devices, such as chip-embedded key-chain fobs. The reader terminals also permit consumers to swipe conventional magnetic stripe payment cards.
Contactless payment cards or fobs that transmit data to wireless readers on payment terminals have been available in growing numbers from major card brands, including MasterCard Visa and American Express, in recent years. The technology to support those cards began appearing with some frequency in quick-service chains in 2005, though some selected pilot tests preceded that by almost two years.
Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's was among the earliest adopters, as was multi-unit Arby's franchisee The Bailey Co. of Golden, Colo. Jack in the Box of San Diego, in December, finished rolling out such technology to all 1,500 company restaurants and about 600 additional franchised units. The 7-Eleven, Sheetz and Wawa convenience store chains have adopted the technology as well.
However the technology has not been a great fit for all the chains exploring its use. Atlanta-based Church's Chicken recently ended a pilot test of contactless readers at three Texas restaurants because of "a lack of usage by our customer base," according to chief information officer Alan Stukalsky.
Some officials of chains testing the payment technology have said it can increase throughput in drive-thrus and at front counters while generating the double-digit increase in average check often associated with consumers' switch from cash to credit or debit cards.