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With the COVID-19 outbreak on the rise, we have come to a time of quarantining, social distancing, and standing 6-feet apart from those individuals who we have no control over. For those essential trips to grocery stores, the crowds can be chaotic for those trying to scavenge through the aisles, grasping at whatever’s left on the shelves. When shopping at grocery stores, customers aren’t necessarily exhibiting social distancing virtues. That’s where Contactless Payments and other social distancing ideologies are coming into existence.
From Store to Store – Contactless
Stores like Home Depot (considered an essential business), are monitoring the number of customers in the store at one time. They are placing an employee outside of the entrance to “guard” their post, making sure that those shoppers are standing the appropriate distance apart, and aren’t disobeying company policies.
Kroger, Meijer, and Walgreens, along with many others are even making an effort to optimize their checkout queue lines for more appropriate spacing and exhibition. Fewer shoppers are processing through orders through self-checkout stands in-store as well. This is likely due to the fact that germs can take up a residence on the Keypad POS System and the Card Swipes. Not all shoppers carry hand sanitizer and gloves on their person at all times.
The CDC’s rigorous Hand-Washing Guidelines can inform you on the horrors of germs and where you’d be headed if you touched too many un-sanitized items. It’s been found that even cash is not the move anymore, because according to the World Health Organization, cash could spread the Coronavirus disease rather than squash it; this is why contactless payments are getting a corporate support surge.
Skip the 10s and 20s, because the right way to pay for things, to prevent the spread of this deadly virus, is to pay for transactions throughout your mobile device, using contactless payment methods. By tapping your mobile device/mobile wallet briefly to the top of the POS terminal, one can ultimately avoid the coronavirus more directly. This is the faster and safer alternative to the EMV Chip/PIN payments and you’ll see that less physical interaction is undergone at the store.
Digital Wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and more specific branded apps (tied into curbside pickup and order-ahead, BOPIS) are no stranger to the scene. 
The embedded NFC antennas in these contactless cards are utilized to complete payments from a proximity standpoint, simplifying the process for both the employee, the shopper, and the rest of the store by association.
In times like these, it’s best to stay safe and healthy from home. If you need to go out, the proper precautions will be set in place, and you’ll find that many stores and corporations are implementing these strategies to help flatten the curve as well.
