Confusion at the Point of Sale

Buying breakfast at Shinagawa Station en route to Hokkaido involved two subtly intertwined rituals: deciding what payment mechanism to use; and communicating the choice to the cashier.

With so many forms of payment available to the consumer it's no surprise that there's an element of confusion creeping into the payment process. As a consumer I have at least 8 ways of paying: I could swipe my Felica equipped mobile phone or Edy card; a credit card that includes Edy (that also tops up my mileage); Passmo; SUICA; or even a good ole' fashioned credit or debit card. I've heard some places still, whisper, take cash.

You might think that consumers will simply plum for using one card above all others. Except that with so much at stake you're underestimating what providers can/will/do to incentivise consumers to try out a new way of paying - the try-something-new process is helped by the incentive being so closely tied to the payment mechanism itself. Consider for a moment how many credit, debit and 'loyalty' cards you have littering your wallet before imagining how easy it will be to slot another one in there.

Micro-thought for today - for all the efficiency enabled by new forms of payment, the inefficiency caused by fumbling to pull out the right card at the right time. The niggling doubt that card/phone X does indeed have sufficient credit to make that payment.

Micro-solution for today? Automatically extending a micro-credit line to consumers who have run of pre-paid credit to avoid the sumimasen moment at the point of sale. Now that would be (social) convenience.