Add to that the current COVID-19 pandemic and all the complexities it brings, and we’ve seen businesses having to quickly adapt their operations to eliminate cash and the inevitable hygiene and practicality issues that go along with it.

Global pandemic aside, we think cash is on its way out for good and businesses will reap the rewards. In fact, The Reserve Bank's 2019 Consumer Payments Survey found that over the past decade, cash went from top dog of the payment world to now scraping in less than a quarter of transactions processed.

Like it or not, cashless payments are here to stay. Here are three reasons to get onboard.

It’s more hygienic

Cash is handled by countless strangers before it enters your hands, so there’s no getting around the fact that the notes and coins that pass through the till are rife with germs. Contactless payments, whereby customers simply tap their card or mobile device and go, eliminate this germ transfer - the customer is the only one that needs to touch their card to make a payment; putting a stop to unnecessary multi-handling and germ spreading.

Make it easy for your customers to shop with you

Where cash was once king, convenience now is. Multichannel payments are about giving customers choices so they can pay in a way that works for them. A digital world and global pandemic both increase the need for multichannel payment solutions, giving people access to purchase what they need safely, when they need it, from wherever they are.

If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that businesses need to be nimble enough to pivot when things change and, in the payments world, this means embracing more than a single sales channel. Businesses that have thrived in the pandemic have created multiple channels for their customers to transact with them; whether that be simply a quick tap and go or making it easy to split bills without having to manually handle cash, and customers will expect and demand this choice into the future.

Virtual terminal

Being set up to accept payments other than cash, doesn’t just apply to card payments in store. Virtual terminal transactions are a type of ‘card not present’ transaction in which the customer pays for their product or service over the phone, web, by mail or even in person and the business is required to enter their card details online. Businesses can process a variety of card types online, process refunds and send electronic receipts to the customer after the transaction is completed.

For various reasons, businesses and consumers will look to use virtual terminal, when they can’t be in store personally (either because they’re not allowed, or it’s simply easier not to). Having the appropriate integrated payments set up to ensure you can handle these cardless/cashless transactions safely and accurately is crucial so that your customer gets serviced effectively and efficiently and both they and the business are protected from any potential fraudulent activity.

Pandemic or not, it has never been clearer that future-proofing businesses is key to their survival. Get in touch to chat about how we help merchants and businesses streamline their payments systems to help them move into the future with confidence.