When I park my car I don't have to worry about having the right cash (or any cash, for that matter). It's become second nature to make a contactless payment at a pay station.

In the same way, I can easily order my Friday night takeaway through an app on my phone. 30 minutes later, abracadabra! My food arrives and I haven't even noticed the money leaving my account.

Digital services are transforming the way we pay for things online and in the real world. It’s magical that payments technology is making our lives easier and better.

Faster and more secure

A great example of this is the evolution of payments technology across the hotel industry.

Guests enjoy so many benefits; from the moment they book, right through to when they enjoy their stay. And the great thing is it all happens behind the scenes, off stage.

That’s the magic of tokenisation. It allows hotels to securely store their guests' sensitive card data on file. The data is encrypted and replaced with a unique code, or ID, called the token. This protects the data from fraudsters.

The beauty of this is that the hotel doesn't have to worry about storing my sensitive information, so there are fewer worries about being PCI compliant. And I have the reassurance that my card details are secure; a win/win for everybody.

It all starts when a guest makes a reservation online. That's the point at which the token is created. It's stored securely so there's no need for guests to present their payment details again when they check-in. One less thing to worry about at check-in, speeding-up the process.

More convenient

Of course, for some guests, keeping their card details safe is top of their list, and while that's important for me too, what I love about tokenisation is convenience. Once you have the token, you can use it for all payments.

As a guest, I can wander around the hotel – book a treatment, buy a snack, a drink at the bar – you name it. No need for me to sign a bill or present my card at any point in my stay, a much-welcomed improvement.

You can also activate the token on any device that has NFC capability, like a wristband, even a wearable and the guest can then use that to pay. So there’s no need for them to bring their card to the pool or bar.

Everything is just smoother and quicker and puts guests in a better mood. In the back of my head, the trust I have in the hotel has gone up. And if your guests are feeling good, they won't worry as much about their spending and are less likely to be checking the bill. That is good news for your hotel.

Tokens are also convenient for the guest and hotel in other ways. It's easy to sort out refunds if a trip is cut short or add additional amounts spent in the hotel like the mini-bar.

And it all helps you deliver that special five-star Aaaahhhh moment.

More spending

One of the other spin-offs from tokenisation it that as guests spend, the data from their activities can be captured and analysed. The token provides a unique identifier to track guests and with the appropriate permissions in place, the data can be plugged into enterprise systems such as CRM systems and loyalty platforms.

This is amazingly useful for returning customers who we know spend more on subsequent trips to a hotel. For example, if they enjoy a bottle of wine with lunch, incentivise them with a discount the next time they're in town.

Marketers love to talk about segmentation, loyalty programmes and CRM – I think it's just a good old fashioned case of giving the guest what they want.