International QSR chain McDonald’s has become the latest merchant to start accepting electronic payments for its outlets across West and South India. According to the company, the switch to cashless payment at all 150 restaurants will enable customers to receive quicker delivery of their meal with a swipe of their debit,
credit or prepaid card.
Amit Jatia, Vice-Chairman, Hardcastle Restaurants, which manages and operates McDonald’s across West and South India said in a report by Hindu Business Line, “For a quick service restaurant (QSR) such as McDonald’s, fast turnaround of customer orders and convenience of lower cash handling time is of prime importance. The solution has helped significantly reduce our order processing time to 5–10 seconds approximately.”
McDonald’s move is particularly significant for Visa, as one of the biggest barriers to card usage in India is the low level of acceptance, combined with consumer unwillingness to opt for smaller purchases.
Uttam Nayak, Group Country Manager, Visa, noted the move was one more example of India’s shift towards a cashless society.
Earlier, the Government had announced the launch of Saral Money, a unique financial services and electronic payments programme, using Aadhaar, the country’s biometric national identity system. Visa has collaborated on this project with five Indian banks - SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and Axis Bank.
Nayak noted that it was a perfect example of how the public and private sector could come together to develop India’s payment ecosystem.