iPay At The Table

A year or so ago I wrote a brief Insight article about the iPad emerging as a Point of Sale system and how some small scale restaurant operators, mainly one or two unit operators, have tried this technology in their restaurants. Not only does it have the cool factor, but it did prove to be a successfully functioning POS “terminal” for these early adoptors. 

In fact, The iPad FIRMS POS system offers a 90% savings on a traditional POS system and can be implemented in restaurants of any level -- form the individual restaurant to multinational chain restaurants. 

Now it seems there is another use for the iPad in the restaurant. An article on restaurantbriefing.com explains that there is an expanding list of restaurateurs using the iPad as a wine list. The advantage is that it has fully interactive information and is of course searchable. Incentient LLC develops the SmartCellar wine list program which can be customized to the individual restaurant and easily update pricing, inventory, and specials. 

But with these innovative uses for the iPad, I wonder if the next step for the iPad in restaurants is using it as a pay at the table technology. I’m still a little baffled by the fact that pay at the table technology has not taken off in this country. With the amount of cash transactions continually on the decline, credit/debit cards are clearly the choice for payments. 

This has been trending for years, but what hasn’t changed is the same old habit of handing off your credit card to the waiter or waitress for 5 minutes while they ring up your order. This seemingly care free consumer habit continues to be status quo despite the rise in credit card fraud, identity theft, skimming technology, etc… I still believe there is big potential for pay-at-the-table technology and the iPad could open the door.  How about a new iPay App? Maybe there’s an App for that in the works.