Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

Monday 20 March 2017 BUSINESS
A24

Smart Money:

Coming soon, paying your tab without giving your credit card

KEN SWEET send each other money
AP Business Writer for free via their phones
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s 1 mean you can quickly pay
a.m. You’ve had a few a friend back for a drink or
too many at a crowded divide the dinner check
bar and walk out without instead of just hoping that
paying the tab. Your credit someday soon the friend
card and driver’s license sit will take a turn.
behind the cash register, Those have the benefit of
leaving your personal info working at any restaurant,
widely accessible while but don’t have the ability
you sleep off those vodka to split bills until after the
tonics. fact.
There’s a new option that The new bar tab option on
might lessen the pain. Not Qkr is fairly straightforward.
the hangover pain — for Customers can open the
that, you’ll need aspirin. Qkr or the bar’s app, and
But if you’ve ever left your set up a tab, entering their
credit card at a bar by mis- credit card information if
take, or spent several min- they hadn’t already done
utes trying to flag down a so. Once the tab is ready,
harried bartender to close This photo demonstrates some of the new features of the Qkr with Masterpass mobile payments customers would get a ta-
you out, there may be a service. The upgrade being rolled out during the summer of 2017 will let people open, manage ble number, which they’d
new option. and close their tabs at participating bars and taverns completely through their phones, without give to the bartender each
An upgrade being rolled having to hand over a credit card. (Courtesy of Mastercard via AP) time they order a drink.
out this summer to Master- When they’re ready to go,
card’s mobile payments existing Qkr mobile pay- Vita also cited Mastercard While Mastercard is rolling customers can close out
service will let people open, ment service. survey data that it takes out the feature, Qkr will their tabs in the app. There
manage and close their “We heard from so many on average 12 to 15 min- work with any major credit are options to add other
tabs at participating bars bars and pubs who always utes to close out a bill, time card as long as the mer- people to the tab, much
and taverns completely have a number of credit that could be used to serve chant accepts it. like how a person can split
through their phones, with- cards left at the end of the more tables and custom- Popular apps like Venmo, a fare on Uber, as well as
out having to hand over a evening, and we thought, ers. Square Cash and bank- the ability to pay for in-
credit card. The Open Tab ‘we know how to address The service will be free to specific versions like Chase dividual drinks or pay for
feature, available in the this,’” said Betty DeVita, customers and the service QuickPay have already rounds of drinks.q
U.S. and the U.K., will be an the business head of Mas- will cost the same for bars changed the dynamic in
upgrade to Mastercard’s tercard’s Qkr platform. De- and restaurants as their how some people are pay-
normal credit card pro- ing for things. The payment
cessing costs, DeVita said. services that let people