NEARLY 2,000 Waffle House locations have planned to implement a major payment change.
The fast-casual restaurant has now started offering new digital payment options.
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The contactless payment options include debit/credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.
This means that customers can now use their phones to pay their tabs.
In just three months Waffle House has implemented the Point-of-Sale (POS), the Oracle MICROS Simphony Cloud, giving its service workers an upgraded way to manage operations.
The Payment Cloud Service will allow fixed fee rate pricing with no monthly minimum requirements, helping to avoid unexpected costs.
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Patrick Marshburn, vice president of innovation and strategy at Waffle House said in a statement: "Our customers love the classic nostalgia of our restaurants and maintaining that feeling of a dine-in experience at the Waffle House is important to our brand."
Waffle House has been around for 68 years and is considered one of the most popular chain restaurants in America.
The old-school style diner has over 1,900 locations in 25 states and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
WHAT IS CONTACTLESS PAYMENT?
Contactless payment is a broad term to describe methods that consumers use to pay for goods.
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This can be through cards, mobile apps, or digital wallets.
Consumers use the digital payment method by tapping a card, an Apple Watch, or a smartphone near a card reader, eliminating cash or card swiping.
More specifically, these payments use one of two options: radio-frequency identification (RFID) or near field identification, per Forbes.
These are used as a way to communicate with readers and can only be done at a distance of about two to four inches.
The set distance ensures that each payment is intentionally being used.
WHERE CAN I USE IT?
Consumers may use contactless payments, or tap to pay, anywhere they see a Contactless Symbol on a checkout terminal.
Millions of places around the world have started accepting the digital payment method including fast-food restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores, retail pharmacies, vending machines, taxis, and more.
IS IT SAFE?
It's generally considered a safe way to pay as payments should only take place when the card or device is close to the payment machine.
However, some shoppers have reported checkout systems at major retailers charging them even when their cards are a considerable distance away.
A San Francisco resident Edgar Matthews told local ABC affiliate KGO: "I hadn't tapped it, I hadn't inserted it, I hadn't swiped it… and then all of a sudden, out comes a receipt."
He went on to share the incident at a Safeway supermarket where his groceries pay for themselves.
As he took out his card to place it on the machine, Edgar noticed that the transaction was already completed as the POS picked up his American Express card.
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