Time Efficiency of Point-of-Sale Payment Methods: The Empirical Results for Cash, Cards and Mobile Payments

Abstract:     
We propose a novel approach for the time efficiency study of payment process at the Point-Of-Sale (POS). A wide range of payment methods from cash and standard cards to contactless cards, RFID stickers and mobile payments (NFC and remote) was analysed. Transactions were timed by means of digital chronography of video material recorded in the biggest chain of convenience stores in Poland. Our results confirm that cash is significantly faster payment method than traditional payment cards with a magnetic stripe or EMV chip. However, the innovative payment methods, such as contactless cards and NFC mobile payments, are competitive to cash in terms of time efficiency. Contactless cards used in offline mode and without printing paper slips are the first popular electronic payment method in history faster than cash. Our results could be applied to optimise the payment process at POS as well as to develop innovative and efficient payment solutions.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 30

Keywords: retail payments, tender time, credit & debit cards, contactless cards, NFC, mobile payments

JEL Classification: E42, L81, O33, G21

working papers series