Mastercard has expanded its mobile order-ahead and payment platform, Qkr with Masterpass, to six new markets — Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, South Africa and the U.S.
The payments processing network also is integrating Qkr and Masterpass into Oracle’s POS software and systems, to scale these digital payment platforms to the company’s partner merchants worldwide.
Qkr is already live in Australia, Colombia, Mexico and the UK, and is being used at fast-casual restaurants such as wagamama, Juan Valdez, ASK Italian, Young’s Pubs, Zizzi, and Change Please, a mobile coffee-delivery social project run by homeless people in London.
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“At wagamama, we believe in the philosophy of ‘kaizen’ or ‘good change’ and Qkr is helping us to deliver this,” said Richard Talboy, Director of IT at wagamama in a statement. “With Qkr, our guests have the control to pay when they want and leave when they are ready rather than having to wait for the bill, which means that the server is freed up to spend more time on delivering great service. In a customer-service environment, the focus should be on brilliant food, great service and making the occasion fun for our guests, and paying with Qkr removes any needless fuss around a bill.”
Qkr also is designed to allow restaurants to offer targeted promotions directly to customers, and to develop reward programs that foster engagement and loyalty. The platform’s web-based management portal is designed to help retailers view and manage menus, product inventory and pricing.
Mastercard is adding a new feature to Qkr called “Open Tab” that enables customers to open a tab at a bar, without needing to deposit a payment card or an I.D. such as a driver’s license with the bartender.
With “Open Tab,” customers can see their order on their phone and pay via their mobile device when they are ready. Multiple customers can split the bill, either selecting and paying for individual items or choosing to pay for one or more rounds. The feature will be available to restaurants in summer 2017.
