This article was originally published by RFID Update.
March 31, 2005—We reported last week that American Express had signed a deal with Ritz Camera to equip all its locations to accept RFID-based contactless credit card payments under AMEX’s ExpressPay program. This article from PC Magazine highlights some details of that deal. The photo specialty chain does not see using RFID in their supply chain any time soon, according to Vice President of Information Systems Bob O’Hern. O’Hern believes that that reality is still some years off. But the company has, in the face of stiff competition from Wal-Mart and other retailers that offer photo development and services, embraced the technology for contactless payments. With the faster checking-out that contactless provides, the shopping experience is more efficient, and therefore more enjoyable, for the customer.
But lest you assume that Ritz’s contactless payment strategy is a no-brainer for other retail establishments, think again. While there are benefits, it is costly to update a point-of-sale (POS) system to handle RFID contactless payments. Indeed, Ritz’s O’Hern acknowledged that if the company had not already had plans for a company-wide POS system upgrade, “Contactless all by itself probably would have been a very hard sell.”
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