Barclaycard launches world’s first contactless, self-serve beer pump

Barclaycard has developed the world’s first contactless, self-serve beer pump, Pay @ Pump. The prototype has been designed to help bars and pub reduce queuing time for customers buying drinks during busy periods like Christmas. The innovation was brewed up in response to one in four Brits (25%) getting the ‘bar humbugs’ when it takes too long to get served.

The contactless beer pump, which serves ale, is strictly for drinkers aged 18 and over and turns purchasing a pint of ale into three quick and easy steps – “order, pay and pour” – that can be carried out by the customer in just 60 seconds.

How Pay @ Pump works:
Order: select your pint of ale via the Pay @ Pump touchscreen
Pay: touch your contactless card or device at the base of the pump
Pour: place your pint glass at the base of the pump, triggering the drink to dispense automatically following successful payment

With Brits saying the average wait-time for drinks is 12 minutes per order, working out as 35 minutes per person during a festive night out, Pay @ Pump could help combat crowds and keep the glasses clinking by reducing queuing time at the bar. What’s more almost one in four (24%) of bar-goers have considered abandoning a drinks purchase because of long bar queues and 20% have even left a bar or pub and gone elsewhere when wait times become too long.

Fed up of waiting to be served, almost a fifth (19%) said that they would like to see pubs and bars install contactless beer pumps to help speed up service – indicating that Pay @ Pump self-pouring devices could soon become a reality and allow beer drinkers to “hop” the queue while also relieving busy bartenders during peak times.

Over a quarter of Brits (28%) are also calling for contactless payments technology to be made available in every pub and bar nationwide. This is not surprising given the continual rise of ‘touch and go’ payments across the UK, with figures from the latest Barclaycard Contactless Spending Index revealing that spending leapt 173% by value and 112% by volume in the year to the end of October 2016.

Ground-breaking as it is, there are a few other trusted tips and tricks that thirsty drinkers employ in a bid to get served more quickly. Almost three in 10 (28%) resort to flirting with a smile to capture the attention of bar staff, a quarter (26%) routinely give orders to friends further ahead in an attempt to jump the queue and an additional one in five (21%) resort to waving cash at the bartender.

Tami Hargreaves, Commercial Director, Digital Consumer Payments at Barclaycard, said, “I’m sure everyone has been stuck behind the person who orders the most complicated cocktail on the menu or a round of ten drinks for their group of friends. When people told us that waiting time was one of their biggest annoyances, we wanted to help solve a common problem with a simple solution. Pay @ Pump could easily be the answer; by putting the festive cheer back into buying beer – a win-win for both bars and bar-goers!

“Barclaycard has a rich history of innovation and if the trial is successful, Pay @ Pump could be rolled out not only in bars and pubs but also at events and concerts to help speed up service – potentially even taking centre stage at the food and drink stalls at Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park in 2017!”

The prototype was tested earlier this week at Henry’s Café and Bar in London’s Piccadilly. Dejan Nikolic, General Manager, Henry’s Café and Bar, said, ‘Henry’s Café and Bar, Piccadilly is at the cutting edge of London’s diverse pub and bar scene, and we are delighted to partner with Barclaycard to showcase the new Pay @ Pump prototype. We’re always looking at creative technology and were happy to host the demonstration of this innovative new product.”