Article

Jack in the Box testing Google Wallet

November 30, 2011 by Alicia Kelso — Editor, QSRWeb.com

Jack in the Box is testing Google Wallet in 35 of its restaurants in the Los Angeles and San Francisco markets.

Jack in the Box is one of the first QSRs to actively trial the technology, aside from Subway, which was one of the first companies across industries to participate in Google's field tests. Subway began offering the option in five markets in the fall, with global adoption expected in 2012.

Brian Luscomb, Jack in the Box's director of corporate communications, said the company decided to test the mobile payment platform because more people are becoming reliant upon technology to help facilitate their retail experience.

"Convenience is a huge driver of guest satisfaction at quick-service restaurants, and if we can leverage technology to make the process of ordering and paying faster and easier for our guests, then it makes sense to explore opportunities like Google Wallet," he said.

Preparation began five years ago

The timing seems right for such exploration. The projected forecast for the mobile payments industry is staggering. According to Juniper Research, global mobile payments will account for $670 billion by 2015.

Jack in the Box began embracing mobile commerce strategies – namely contactless payments – about five years ago. At that time, many restaurants in the system were equipped with hardware – the same hardware required by Google Wallet – that enabled guests to pay for their order by tapping certain credit cards or mobile devices on the reader.

"Although some guests will always prefer face-to-face interaction with an employee and pay for their order with cash, a growing number of our customer base is used to mobile commerce and see it as a more convenient way to transact business," Luscomb said.

Jack in the Box has not set a timeframe on how long the trail period will last, but plans to continue embracing the mobile space heading into 2012.

"In addition to evaluating results from the Google Wallet test, we'll continue to explore opportunities to leverage technology to enhance our guests' experience. That includes continued evaluation of mobile platforms," Luscomb said.

How Google Wallet works

Google Inc.'s mobile payment platform uses near field communication (NFC) technologies embedded in smartphones, which allows customers to pay for purchases with a simple tap of their phones at a POS terminal.

Google Wallet was launched in May and became available to consumers in September.

Google Wallet is currently only available to users of Samsung's NFC-enabled Nexus S phone running on Sprint's network. Only holders of certain Citi-issued MasterCards are able to load their cards into the Google Wallet for now.

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