Miura and Android Pay: Going Mobile and Driving Growth for UK Businesses

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Android Pay launched in the UK this week to great fanfare, heralding the next big step in mobile payments. With current stats putting the Android market share in the country at around 59%, this offers a fantastic opportunity for business owners up and down the UK to drive sales and improve the payment experience for their customers by offering consumers new ways to pay.

And the good news for Miura customers with one of our contactless terminals is, they can start accepting Android Pay straightaway.

Sky’s the limit
Android Pay may be a few months late to the mobile payments party, Apple Pay having launched in the UK in last July, but it’s sure to make up for lost time. Big name brands including Starbucks, Boots, Waitrose and Transport for London are already on board, as are some of the UK’s major high street banks such as HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide and Bank of Scotland. And Google will be looking to ramp up adoption even further with end-of-the-month Android Pay Day special offers to incentivise consumers.

The platform itself is pretty similar to Apple Pay. Users simply hold their device close to the card reader to “tap and pay” up to £30. It also features tokenisation for added security, which means the merchant doesn’t store any credit card details. It differs slightly, however, in that users don’t have to authenticate up to £30, and there is an option for businesses to accept payments up to £100 if they wish. For these, users will have to verify their identity via PIN, pattern or fingerprint.

It all points to a bright mobile future for the UK – now one of the leading countries in the world when it comes to accepting contactless and mobile payments. In fact, Visa Europe predicts UK mobile payment sales will hit £1.2bn per week by 2020.

A bright future
We think mobile payments have a bright future. But if you’re still to be convinced, take a look at some of the business benefits associated with platforms like Apple Pay, Android Pay and the coming Samsung Pay platform:

  • Offer customers greater choice to pay the way they want to, driving sales
  • Cut queues at the till and therefore minimise drop-outs/lost sales – especially important for low value, high volume businesses like kiosks and pubs
  • More secure than handling cash, and tokenisation means you won’t need to store credit card details, reducing your PCI compliance burden
  • Show you put the customer experience first. Happy customers are more likely to return.
  • These platforms also work for online/in-app purchases, so for larger retailers it can help drive you towards an omnichannel future

It’s not just about the big mobile ecosystems mentioned above, of course. We’re sure there’s much more to come down the line, with the advent of new platforms and the potential for emerging wearable solutions to offer consumers even more choice when it comes to paying in-store. Miura Systems has been at the forefront of mPOS and mobile payments for years and we’re delighted to be supporting this next big step towards a cash-free society.

Talk to your payment service provider today or contact us for more details on how we can help support your mobile payment plans.

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