Contactless payment: 4 questions to Gabriel Rotella, Sodexo Benefits & Rewards Services Global Chief Information Officer

The use of contactless payment, including digital and mobile payment, has significantly increased with the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a Brandwatch study, contactless payment methods are now the most preferred worldwide, favored by 43% of consumers. Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services has been at the forefront of this evolution, helping consumers and merchants leverage the full benefits of contactless payment. Gabriel Rotella, Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services Global Chief Information Officer, shares his perspective and the Sodexo journey towards fully digital payments.

What are the advantages of contactless payment?

Contactless payment methods have a number of benefits for consumers and merchants. The first one is simplification; it makes the payment process a lot easier and more straightforward. It also saves time, accelerating the transaction in-store.

Another advantage is safety, especially in the context of the pandemic, with a no-touch process limiting the risks. As such, contactless payment has allowed merchants to maintain traffic and offer in-store shopping despite the sanitary crisis. To that end, several countries and operators have increased contactless payment thresholds. According to Payvision research, the global contactless card transaction volume has increased by 58% in 2020.

In addition, contactless payment can help merchants attract new consumers, often younger, who favor these payment solutions. Mobile payment solutions are also an alternative for merchants who are not equipped with a payment terminal.

How is Sodexo embracing contactless payment?

At Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services, we embarked on a digital transformation over 3 years ago. We made significant investments in technology and data to digitize our consumer journey and to provide a seamless customer experience, at work and beyond. Today, 86% of our products are already fully digital and it keeps progressing.

For that, we have built a digital ecosystem with our own contactless payment solutions: cards, mobile payment and app-to-app payment solutions. These have already been deployed in 24 countries. Our services rely on a unique global, flexible, scalable and agnostic payment platform, which can run on any device.

This is really a game-changer. It means all of our users can adopt contactless payment methods if they want to. As an example, in many countries, consumers can link their employee benefits, such as their meal card, to Apple Pay or Sodexo Pay for Android.

We are strongly focused on consumers, this said, supporting merchants and our customers is also a key aspect of our activity and of our CSR commitment to making a positive impact on the communities we operate in. During the sanitary crisis, we helped merchants around the globe set up contactless payment solutions, such as QR code payment, allowing them to keep running their business. Our payment and functional teams worldwide have been incredible at quickly stepping up, working relentlessly against all odds and in a very agile manner to provide immediate best-in-class services to our partners.

What are the main challenges of contactless payment solutions implementation?

Digital payment is very complex. Obviously, it is critical to offer the highest standards of security and data privacy. We work with a network of providers and partners to meet security requirements and fight against fraud.

Contactless payment is also highly regulated, and it is essential to comply with local rules and regulations, which may differ from one country to another. There again, collaboration with local payment actors and stakeholders is key.

And finally, the user experience is crucial. Despite the behind-the-scenes complexity, contactless payment needs to be easy, fluid and smooth for both consumers and merchants.

How do you see contactless payment evolving?

It is clear that digital and contactless payment will continue to grow. The COVID-19 crisis has enabled a huge leap forward in terms of digitalization, in that sense it has had a positive impact.

And, for sure, digital payment will continue evolving. New opportunities are appearing with emerging technologies, such as blockchain, which can enhance the security of transactions.

At Sodexo, we have created a global network of payment experts to understand trends and needs. We believe that consumer-centricity is vital. Our goal is to provide the best payment solutions in the market, offering value to consumers and merchants.

It is a central element of our ambition to bring to life a personalized employee experience at work and beyond.