T.G.I FRiDAY'S dines out on wireless for payment processing with Commidea
Commidea’s Wi-Fi system was initially piloted at restaurants in Lakeside, Trafford Centre and Leicester Square for four weeks. Its immediate success led to a full roll-out across all 46 restaurants. The solution is pre-approved by all UK acquirers and meets PCI DSS compliance requirements, which helped to speed up the deployment.
The Wi-Fi solution has been fully integrated with the MICROS RES point-of-sale solution, which enables “pay at table” functionality. This means that serving staff can complete a bill transaction without having to return to the central till. Staff simply swipe their employee card through the mobile terminal and select the correct table. The Chip & PIN system can manage gratuity, split bill payments such as half card, half cash and can also process gift cards through Commidea’s partnership with Stored Value Solutions. This has improved the traceability of bill and tip processing. The advanced reporting feature has also reduced administration, as the system is completely integrated with EPOS payments and can produce one central report.
“In the past, we used slow dial up terminals that only allowed one terminal connection per line. Our serving staff had to leave the table to clear the bill, which could frustrate the waiting guests. There was often a delay closing bills for tables on the EPoS solution which skewed our data. Now it is dealt with swiftly at the table,” said Jeremy Dunderdale, IT Manager, T.G.I. FRiDAY’S UK Ltd. “With the approaching party season “Pay at Table” will make a significant difference to service levels, credit card and guest statistical reporting. The solution is great for our guests, stores and administrative teams.”
Additionally the development between Stored Value Solutions and Commidea, allows T.G.I FRiDAY’S to sell gift cards in stores or over the phone. This offers a more flexible option to the old fashioned gift vouchers for guests, while providing a further income stream with improved management and reporting options for our business. There is room to expand the gift card capability in the future to sell them through third party High Street outlets, and also move into the business to business space by participating in employee incentive schemes.
“The hospitality industry is facing tough competition. It is essential that restaurants explore all ways to free up staff, so that they can spend more time meeting customers’ needs – especially during busy periods,” said Ian Rutland, Marketing and Communication Director, Commidea. “Our payment solution is rich in value add functionality, which enables T.G.I FRiDAY’S UK Ltd to sell gift cards in stores or via the phone. This will provide a great new revenue stream for the restaurant and is something that we hope the rest of the industry will be taking advantage of very soon.”