As the world takes steps towards entering the post-pandemic era, New Zealand has also announced several changes towards steadily allowing residents, students, tourists and workers back into the country.
Prior to COVID-19, industries such as tourism, education and hospitality were booming and regularly contributing to a large number of international arrivals. International tourism was responsible for nearly 500,000 visitors spending about $17 billion. Nearly 200,000 international students spent about $4 billion and the hospitality sector was worth about $11 billion.
New Zealand partly reopened its borders over two phases in April and May and with the borders now fully reopening in July, many industries are optimistically expecting to make a gradual recovery. There are hundreds of new flights being added to New Zealand and restrictions are also easing, further increasing optimism for Kiwi business owners.
What does this mean for your business in terms of EFTPOS payments? How can you be more prepared to make the most of this massive change after nearly 700 days?
Customise your payment solution
Did you know that there are several ways in which you can tailor your EFTPOS solution to be more suited to your business? Taking advantage of payment features that enhance the way you do business and accept payments; is easy and cost effective. Making use of EFTPOS features to customise payments can also have a positive impact on your bottom line and improve your customer experience.
For instance, if you serve international customers, consider getting the Currency Select feature on your terminal to let them see the purchase amount in their currency. If you offer services where payment is collected later (such as accommodation or a bar tab), consider activating the pre-authorisation feature to reserve funds and make settlements smoother. If you have many contactless and credit card payments, you could consider adding an automatic surcharge to recover some of the costs of acceptance.
The features you choose will depend on the nature of your business and how you accept customer payments. You can check out a full list of our EFTPOS features here.
Consider accepting mobile payments
With growing customer demand for contactless sanitary measures which reduce the need to handle the payment terminals, consider allowing your customers to pay via payment apps on their mobile devices.
Contactless payments work with NFC (Near field communication) technology which allows the customer to hover their phone near the EFTPOS machine to complete the payment (usually through Apple or Google Pay).
Mobile payments can also be made via a simple scan of the QR code on your EFTPOS machine. With this you can accept AliPay, WeChat Pay and digital payments such as Centrapay.
These payments are not only quick and secure, they also don’t require the user to handle the terminal or carry their wallets. The convenience of mobile payments is unparalleled and the trend to pay with mobile will only continue to grow.
Add an extra EFTPOS machine for busy periods
If your business is looking to accommodate more customers during the winter months, you can consider hiring an extra EFTPOS machine to cover for those busy times. This helps reduce any queues, allowing you to focus on providing a better customer experience.
Smartpay’s solutions for short term rentals and seasonal rentals are specifically designed for businesses that have one-off or periodic busy periods. If you are already a Smartpay customer and have a terminal ID, we can usually have an additional terminal out to you within 1 business day.
If you are looking at leasing another terminal for a longer term, you can also take advantage of having the first 12 months EFTPOS rental free on your new Smartpay terminal.
Consider having a back-up EFTPOS machine at your place of business
If your business environment is potentially at risk for liquid spills or physical damage, perhaps consider getting a back-up EFTPOS terminal that is located at your place of business.
Hotswap EFTPOS is an immediate solution for businesses whose main EFTPOS terminal has become damaged or faulty. With one phone call to us, you can have this back-up terminal activated in minutes. This allows you to continue taking payments smoothly while the original terminal is fixed or replaced.
How Smartpay can help
Our payment solutions are designed to not only help you accept payments smoothly but also to serve your customers better and enhance how you do business.
Check out our EFTPOS features to find the one that suits you best, or perhaps search our industry pages for more information on specific industries such as transport, tourism and hospitality.
At Smartpay, we make activating these features very easy, our support teams are available 24/7 to assist you with the process. If you are interested in becoming a Smartpay customer, our payment specialists will be happy to discuss a tailored EFTPOS solution with you.
To activate any of the above features, you can reach out to our support team on 0800 476 278 or use this form. To sign up with Smartpay, you can reach one of our payment specialists on 0800 004 905 or use this form.