Paying right ON the table in US restaurants - it's happening

WASHINGTON, USA: TableSafe, notable player of the RAIL pay-at-the-table technology designed exclusively for full-service restaurants, teamed up with Creditcall, the EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa)-ready payment gateway provider and EMV migration player, to strengthen its mobile POS (mPOS) platform. This will ensue by integrating EMV payment capability and providing enhanced transaction security with Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) for all card payment methods, as it explains in an announcement.

On October 1, 2015, the major credit card brands serving the United States will enact a Counterfeit Card Liability Shift, meaning merchants will need to be EMV compliant and able to accept EMV chip enabled payment cards to complete a transaction. If the merchant fails to meet the compliance deadline for EMV, they will assume liability for the cost of all fraudulent purchases that occur at their establishment. As a result, a number of full-service restaurants are currently upgrading their existing Point-of-Sale systems, integrating mobile payment functionality that allows an EMV-enabled chip card to be utilized directly at the table.

“Involving a partner with years of experience in the EMV market is reassuring to restaurant operators that are updating their technology to embrace this new card payment change,” said Joe Snell, CEO of TableSafe. “Creditcall enables our pay-at-the-table technology to not only meet EMV compliance, but also accept payments beyond mag-stripe and EMV, making it simple for full-service restaurants to adapt to any additional payment methods that may emerge.”

The mPOS platform from TableSafe features a handheld device, called RAIL, that’s designed to look like the traditional bill presentation folder used at most full-service restaurants. However unlike the traditional folder, the TableSafe unit allows guests to securely self-insert credit, debit or chip enabled cards, auto-calculate the tip, split the bill multiple ways, pay-by-item, and receive e-mail receipts. The system uses Creditcall’s industry-respected EMV ready payment gateway and its CardEaseXML API, which allows payment functionality to be added to virtually any payment device.

By combining the security of Creditcall and TableSafe technologies – above and beyond the standard requirements for PCI and EMV – restaurant operators using the TableSafe platform are equipped with end-to-end payment security, including encryption and tokenization for all payments; claims the company.

In addition to providing EMV and PCI compliance, Point-to-Point Encryption and other security features, the company says that the TableSafe System also provides restaurant operators with other benefits such as increased staff efficiency, higher survey response rates, and increased customer satisfaction.

“Being EMV compliant in time for the Liability Shift in October 2015 is crucial for all businesses in the US,” said Jeremy Gumbley, CTO of Creditcall. “TableSafe has taken the potentially complicated payment processing and security issue for full-service restaurant operators and simplified it for them by embedding the power of our secure EMV-ready payment gateway. We are excited to help TableSafe usher in a new era of payment security for restaurants and their customers.”

The TableSafe technology is currently being used at a number of full-service restaurants around the country, including Dickie Brennan’s Restaurants in New Orleans.

“The arrival of EMV isn’t something that restaurant operators can afford to ignore,” said Derek Nettles, IT Director for Dickie Brennan’s Restaurants in New Orleans. “Fortunately, TableSafe has made it very simple for us to address the issue – and has equipped us for any future shifts in the payments industry. Our customers also appreciate having a higher level of security and the peace of mind that we’re taking every measure to protect them.”