Customers at Henry’s Café Bar in London’s Piccadilly have been testing a prototype self-serve beer pump that allows them to order drinks on a touchscreen and complete payment by tapping their contactless card or NFC device at the base of the pump, before placing their glass under the dispenser for the drink.
The Pay @ Pump device has been designed by Barclaycard, following research by the company that revealed more than a quarter of British consumers (28%) are calling for contactless payments to be made available in every pub and bar nationwide. Some 19% said they would like to see pubs and bars install contactless beer pumps.
The process has been designed to be completed within 60 seconds, says Barclaycard’s Tami Hargreaves, who adds: “When people told us that waiting time was one of their biggest annoyances, we wanted to help solve a common problem with a simple solutions.
“Pay @ Pump could be rolled out not only in bars and pubs but also at events and concerts to help speed up service, potentially taking centre stage at the food and drink stalls at Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park in 2017.”
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Nice, but as well as pulling your pint the bar staff are there to ensure that drinkers are not (a) drunk and (b) under-age. This would make unattended or self-serve sales of alcohol tricky.