From when you park your car, when you buy that ticket, take home that dress,  have a drink or a meal – all the efforts that brands make to understand you, to serve you, to reward and delight you.

It all ends up on stage - in that final payment moment.

To think of all the investments that are made before that moment, the research, the planning, the marketing, the ceremony. Whether it's in person, online or on your phone, a brand’s only hope of converting those investments into revenue lies in that payment moment.

And for most brands, when it comes to converting those in person payment moments, what technology do they depend on? You'd think the piece of kit they choose would be based on the very latest technology? What then do most brands use to power those effortless and unfussy payment moments? It's that dated payment terminal.

Sporting a dot matrix pixelated screen that could probably just about manage a black and white version of Tetris. Proudly offering you a T-9 keyboard, last seen on candy bar phones during the mid-noughties. Just try processing complex payments like VAT refunding for international shoppers or try using T-9 data entry for customer data capture. There's no camera to read QR codes, to give the option of collecting payments from WeChat Pay, Alipay or even PayPal. Why then are these devices front and centre of that payment moment? 

Now think about the technology we hold in our hands every day. The processing power, the screens, the cameras, the operating systems and software on our phones would massively improve the experience of that payment moment. The touchscreen could allow shoppers and guests to interact with your brand and a touchpoint to remind them who they are engaged with. The camera could support many forms of alternative payment. Or scan a passport to aid VAT refunding, or data entry. A terminal based on this consumer technology could be used to present offers to guests before check out. Like the ability to pay in their own currency, or use loyalty points to pay down all or part of their hotel bill.

Consumer technology can be used to optimise that payment moment. Isn't it about time you put a little more whoosh into your payment experience?  Great brands are working now to leverage consumer tech and update their experience to their customers’ requirements. 

At Planet we put all our effort into helping brands convert that payment moment into revenue. We put all our smarts, our knowledge, our technology, our service into helping them build relationships with their consumers. We help them generate revenue.