Barclaycard trials ‘queue-less checkout’ payment

Barclaycard has begun trials on a brand new payment concept that allows consumers to buy low-value goods by simply scanning and paying for their shopping using their smartphones, without the need to visit a physical checkout.

The new ‘Grab+Go’ app technology transforms a smartphone into a ‘pocket checkout’, meaning that consumers can scan the items they want to buy with the phone’s camera as they pick them and then complete their purchase with a single click and walk out of a store. This concept the credit card and payment services provider states will save consumers time and allow merchants to serve more customers.

Usman Sheikh, director of design and experimentation at Barclaycard, said: “One of the key customer frustrations with shopping is the time spent queuing to pay for items they want to buy – especially when they are in a hurry. Using the latest technology, we’ve developed Grab+Go to streamline the shopping experience by removing the need to physically check out every time you want to buy something.

“The way in which people shop and pay has evolved significantly over the past decade, and as the use of mobile and wearable payments grows, we are constantly looking at how we can use technology to make our customers’ lives easier.”

The concept is currently being trialled by Barclays and Barclaycard colleagues in the staff restaurant in London with Northampton, Teesside and Wilmington in the US to gather feedback before a public roll-out of the technology.

Sheikh added: “An important part of this trial will be getting feedback from colleagues, as well as the operators in the staff restaurants, to further develop the product and proposal. Once the final version is complete, it will be available to our clients to help revolutionise payments in their own businesses.”

Image: via Barclaycard website