4 Contactless Payment Methods for Your Vet Clinic Checkout

The pandemic forced veterinary practices to quickly implement procedures for safe and healthy in-person interactions between staff and clients. It also fueled an exponential growth in contactless and digital payments, with nearly 80% of consumers worldwide changing how they pay in order to reduce contact. Together, these behavioral adjustments have forever changed how veterinary practices will handle payments made at their clinics.

Clients are interested in fast, germ-free ways to pay, and many vet practices are upgrading their checkout process to reflect a safer, healthier payment experience. Here are four simple ways to meet client needs when it comes to in-person payments.

4 Ways to Provide a Fast, Touchless Checkout at Your Vet Clinic

1. Use a Customer-Facing Device

   Customer-facing payment terminals are placed on the client’s side of the counter and synced with a Virtual Terminal. This is faster than passing cards back-and-forth, and more secure since the credit card never leaves the customer’s sight. Staff initiate the transaction in their computer’s browser, and clients follow the prompts on the terminal’s screen to insert, swipe or tap for payment. Transaction details are automatically stored in the cloud.

2. Accept Contactless Payments

   NFC contactless technology allows customers to quickly pay by simply waving a card, smartphone or wearable device over a payment terminal. In addition to eliminating the handover of cards, contactless payments are faster, and their advanced security features protect businesses from counterfeit card fraud. Encryption technology makes the cards extremely secure, and mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay go a step further by requiring a face or fingerprint scan as an added layer of verification.

3. Disable Signatures and Receipts

   The card brands no longer require signatures for businesses that use EMV-enabled devices to process payments. It is also no longer necessary for those businesses to retain and store transaction receipts. Disabling these features speeds up the checkout process, keeps germs off paper and pens, and saves trees. A cloud-based Virtual Terminal solution stores electronic receipts; they can later be retrieved and emailed to customers with just a few simple clicks.

4. Capture Payment Details up Front

   Run a client’s card when a patient checks in so that when the appointment ends, you can add the total amount, process the transaction and email them a copy of the receipt. This reduces touchpoints and helps alleviate stress, especially during emotional procedures such as euthanasia. Clients can quietly leave without having to stop and pay in the lobby.

Make sure your card-on-file solution uses tokenization to securely swap out sensitive data, which makes it useless in the case of a breach. If you’re using PayJunction, cardholder data is securely stored upon initial payment. Therefore, if the client is a repeat customer, you can process the payment without having to request the physical card again.

Upgrading your payment system to implement these best practices will improve the checkout process and make both clients and staff happier. Take the next step and give your practice a boost with a truly contactless checkout experience.

Which of the four recommendations above is your practice missing? Tell us how it’s made things harder at your practice in the comments below.