The Lowry Hotel in Manchester, UK, is piloting a graphene-based contactless payment system that enables restaurant customers to pay their bill by tapping their smartphone on a till receipt imprinted with an electronic antenna.

The technology allows customers to tap the smart till receipt to bring up the bill on their smartphone browser and then complete payment using Android or Apple Pay.

“The role of graphene in the antenna is to provide high flexibility, conductivity and mechanical strength, which can be imparted onto the tight and variable curvature of the till roll,” explains the University of Manchester, which collaborated with UK startup Payper Technologies on the development of the technology.

“Payper’s antennas combine graphene with metals and other components to realise a near field communication device that can be used as a direct swap for existing restaurant till rolls,” says Payper Technologies co-founder Thanasis Georgiou.

“By introducing just a small amount of graphene in the manufacturing process, we can translate its unique range of benefits into our ‘smart’ receipt rolls.”

“The trial will be used to demonstrate the technology and provide validation of this pay-at-table solution, along with potentially demonstrating other benefits for restaurants, including increasing customer lifetime value, repeat visits and tips, and reducing table-turn time,” he adds.

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