Author: JT

According to a new survey from Square, customers who pay using NFC tech are more likely to tip.

NFC mobile payments are fast and are virtually instantaneous. This may be one of the reasons why consumer who use this type of payment tend to tip more compared to those who pay using traditional methods like magstripe cards. According to a study conducted in Portland by California-based mobile payment firm Square, 73% of customers who used near field communications (NFC) payments at point of sale (POS) left tips compared to only 67% of customers who used magnetic stripe cards.

Square spent six weeks in Portland educating local businesses about contactless payments.

For more than two months, Square remained in Portland for its #PayFasterPortland campaign. During the campaign, an increasing number of Portlanders began using their mobile devices to pay at local businesses that upgraded to Square’s new contactless and chip reader device.

Thousands of Portland sellers implemented Square’s new chip card and NFC mobile payments reader.

Square’s chip card and NFC reader is a small pocket-sized device with a powerful battery. It wirelessly connects to Android or iOS mobile devices and is made for NFC and chip, accepting EVM chip cards and Apple Pay as well as other contactless payments. The mini device is also designed to work with the free POS Square app

According to the official Square blog, Portland now has the highest “tap-to-pay” rates in the United States.

“Even before #PayFasterPortland, the city was number one in the country for orders for our new contactless and chip reader. And now the rate of people in Portland paying on Square’s new reader with mobile wallets like Apple Pay is higher than the national average,” the blog noted.

Square began rolling out its first contactless readers in November of last year. In March 2016, the company’s CEO Jack Dorsey revealed that the reader received over 350,000 pre-orders.

Due to the ease and speed of NFC mobile payments and with more businesses implementing the necessary devices that enable them to offer this payment option, this tech is likely to grow among both businesses and consumers across the country. It will be interesting to see if the high tipping percentage continues among NFC users.

The New York Stock Exchange may be 224 years old, but it is now using 21st century technology.

The rules for NYSE mobile phone use have now changed. Brokers can use their personal mobile devices on the trading floor in Manhattan. This decision is a significant one and is meant to address a problematic issue.

The decision was made following a hectic day last Friday when a communications breakdown occurred.

That day, the results of the Brexit were announced, and the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. The landline service to brokers failed. That said, not all brokers had NYSE mobile phone approval. The brokers were not allowed to use their mobile devices without that specific authorization. Following that communications disaster, personal mobile phones can now be used.

This NYSE mobile phone decision may be a temporary one, according to a regulatory filing.

A statement from the NYSE read “Communications with customers is a vital part of a floor broker’s role.” It also added “Brokers who do not have exchange authorized and provided portable phones should be permitted to use personal cell phone devices, in lieu of the non-operational wired phone lines.”

This indicates that the authorized mobile devices and provided portable phones are the preferred methods. However, should those become non-functional or unavailable, then personal mobile phones become an allowable alternative. It is also the only option for many brokers at the moment as the outage was a lengthy one.

At the time of the writing of this article, the NYSE was still working with its phone carrier. The hope was that the floor brokers’ telephones would be working again soon. The outage that brought about this change in NYSE mobile phone regulations did not impact the “designated market makers.” They are the overseers of the floor for stock trades.

Should this regulation remain as a kind of back-up plan for brokers it could help to avoid the type of communication struggle they faced last Friday. Many consider this move to use personal mobile phones a step in the right direction to catch the New York Stock Exchange up to the current century.