Chronometric Analysis of a Payment Process for Cash, Cards and Mobile Devices

摘要

This article presents estimates of the time efficiency of a wide range of payment methods used at the Point-Of-Sale (POS) from traditional cash and standard cards to contactless cards, RFID stickers and mobile payments (NFC and remote). More than 3,700 transactions were timed by means of digital chronography of video material recorded by cameras installed in the biggest chain of convenience stores in Poland. Our novel approach confirms that until recently cash was the fastest payment method available at POS. Traditional payment cards equipped with a magnetic stripe or EMV chip are significantly slower at the checkout. However, nowadays a technological breakthrough occurs in the evolution of means of payment. The innovative payment methods designed for low-value transactions, such as contactless cards and NFC mobile payments, are competitive to cash in terms of time efficiency. Contactless cards used in offline mode and without printing paper slips are the first popular electronic payment method in history faster than cash. Conversely, the remote mobile payments method tested has lower time efficiency at POS. Our results could be used by merchants who want to optimise their payment process and by developers of innovative payment solutions.