Magazine: New methods of payment: All the proof of the pudding is in the eating

András Bakonyi
commercial director
Ingenico Hungary

Payment by card or mobile phone are received positively everywhere, András Bakonyi, commercial director of Ingenico Hungary reckons. For a retailer, it is the easiest if it provides a POS-terminal for a couple of thousand forints a month, even without commission, he thinks. Cash on delivery remains, however, very popular that is also supported by cashless payment solutions such as Ingenico mPOS used by many courier companies.

Péter Halász
head of telesales & merchant relations department
Edenred

On the benefits market, digitalisation has been gaining ground for years. From among regular benefits, 80 per cent Edenred’s clients pick the electronic card. According to the company, those who tend to spend more money online, prefer electronic means in terms of their benefits, too. The only field lagging behind seems to be the segment of ad-hoc benefits traditionally provided in the form of vouchers, to which Edenred also provides a modern card solution. Péter Halász, Head of Telesales & Merchant Relations Department pointed out that client education works, but it costs a lot of time and money.

Dr. Zoltán Feith
CEO
Fizetési Pont

Since the offer on POS terminals provided by Fizetési Pont grants the most advantages to those retailers who have never accepted payment by card before, we registered a steep rise in the number of calls in contrast to last year, although we were the ones who installed the most new POS terminals in Hungary in the past three years, dr. Zoltán Feith, CEO of Fizetési Pont told. And users of the POS terminal of Fizetési Pont usually do not want to return to the „cash only” payment because of its greatest benefit of all, i.e. customers are prone to spend 10-20 per cent more by card, which translates into a higher turnover and income for the store.

István Bessenyei
owner-managing director
Laurel Group

At Laurel, similar trends are perceived: customers started to seek contact-free shopping and payment methods, thus started to use technology. István Bessenyei, owner-managing director of Laurel Group expects a sudden development in efficiency through AI, IoT devices and smart solutions. While innovating, the company puts emphasis on store automation, solutions optimising physical work, developments supporting better service and intelligent system generating customized offers.

Éva Kozma
assistant commercial
director
Szintézis

During the pandemic, the regularly disinfected self-service checkouts of Szintézis Zrt. became highly popular. They also enable customers to pay cash, by card and soon by instant transfer. Automation is the new trend, Éva Kozma, assistant commercial director of Szintézis Zrt. said. It has become clear that costly human resources should be reallocated to quality customer service and replaced by machines, she adds. The company pioneered innovative tools when it implemented the electronic shelf label, which is already perceived indispensable. Pricer is expected to run the same course once the barcode technology did. Besides, Szintézis has also enlarged its Self Checkout portfolio. //