Contactless Smart Cards, RFID, Payment, Transit and Security

Coffee Republic launches payment and loyalty program

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

UK’s Coffee Republic, which began accepting contactless cards earlier this year, has now rolled out its own loyalty and payment card system using sQuid eMoney’s service. The new prepaid card will include multiple purses and is designed to replace cash transactions in fast food environments.

The loyalty part of the card will give customers rewards for redemption in-store. The smart card launched in several London Coffee Republics but eventually all stores will have the new system implemented by early next year.


“The sQuid eMoney service gives us the ability to reward our customers at the same time as making their life easier at the point of purchase,” said Peter Breach, Coffee Republic chairman. “We wanted to move on from the loyalty-only card; we needed contactless, and an ability to extend an online relationship with our customers meant that sQuid was the obvious partner.”

The card will be Coffee Republic branded with an open payments and loyalty purse. Customers receive promotional funds into this purse, which is then redeemable in-store. Customers can register the card online, view transactions and top-up their open purse, as well as view their loyalty purse. They can also top-up in-store too.

sQuid eMoney bills itself as an alternative to debit and credit cards for small purchases of less than $15 and is an independent e-money network where a bank account isn’t needed. [end] 

Oracle has released a new version of Oracle Retail Point-of-Service that aims to increase security, operational efficiency and functionality in part by integrating biometrics.

Oracle partnered with DigitalPersonal to add integrated biometrics to the POS package. Users of the software will login using their fingerprint, which will replace the need for PINs or passwords. This feature intends to reduce fraud by eliminating the possibility of unauthorized employees using a manager ID or swipe card to access the POS and approve overrides.

read more »

In Europe, the Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS) and EPASOrg has developed a new global standard to help accommodate changes in new payment technologies, according to SupermarketNews.com

read more »

Japanese mobile operator KDDI has announced that it will launch NFC-based commercial services with Japan Airlines, credit card issuers, retailers and loyalty program providers, reports NFC World.

read more »

United Arab Emirates-based telecom Etisalat is partnering with MasterCard and Network International to launch nationwide NFC payments.

Scheduled to launch this fall, the service will enable Etisalat customers with Blackberry 9900 smart phones to make contactless purchases at more than 600 retail locations in the UAE that already accept MasterCard PayPass contactless payments. Customers using the mobile application can tap and pay for items up to $50, but must enter a PIN to verify the transaction.

read more »

Superdrug, one of Britain’s largest beauty and health retailers, has introduced contactless payment for its in-store customers, according to Retail Gazette.

Created by Streamline and Visa Europe, the contactless system will enable customers to make payments of up to £15 (approx. USD $23) by simply waving their contactless bank card at the more than 50 participating Superdrug stores in London and Liverpool.

read more »

Philips has developed a coffee maker that can recognize users via their fingerprint and make coffee just the way that individual likes it, according to a Daily Mail article.

read more »

Subscribe to the Contactless News Library
Gain access to the largest collection of Auto-ID analysis on the Internet.