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Joining Transaction Network Services( TNS) gave me the opportunity to lead in a truly global environment, supporting multiple industries with secure, scalable and innovative solutions. Today, as Global Managing Director of Payments, I work with partners across more than 50 countries to enable fast, seamless and future-ready payment experiences.
How are payments in quick service restaurants evolving to meet consumer demand for speed and convenience? Quick service restaurants( QSRs) operate in an environment where every second counts, so payment flows have become a key driver of customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. We’ re seeing a shift from traditional point-of-sale transactions to fully integrated, omnichannel journeys that include in-app ordering, kiosks, drive-thru unattended payments and pay-at-table options.
Consumers expect instant, contactless experiences without needing to reach for a wallet. In our research, self-service is already significant, with 23 percent in Australia and close to one in five in both the UK and the US saying unattended is their most common way to pay. One in three consumers also cite being forced to create an account as their biggest checkout frustration, and 22 percent point to too many steps in the payment value chain.
TNS Complete Commerce, our full-stack payment and network solution incorporating TNS’ Accept, Connect and Orchestrate product portfolios, enables QSRs to support multiple payment journeys through a single platform. Intelligent routing helps reduce latency and keeps queues moving while delivering consistent speed and convenience across every touchpoint.
What trends are you seeing in cashless and contactless payments in convenience retail? In convenience retail, speed and ease of payment are now considered non-negotiable, which has accelerated the shift toward cashless and contactless transactions. Consumers increasingly expect quick tapand-go payments using cards, mobile wallets and wearable devices, with many stores now reporting that cash usage is in continuous decline.
Cards still dominate across markets, from 56 percent in the UK to 70 percent in the US and 66 percent in Australia, with cash steady at around 15 percent to 16 percent. Mobile wallet usage is higher in the UK at 19 percent and 14 percent in Australia, compared with ten percent in the US, which argues for tuning wallet support by market. From a business perspective, real-time payment routing and intelligent retries are helping to boost approval rates and helping to reduce abandoned purchases.
Ultimately, convenience retailers are moving toward always-on, digitally connected payment environments where checkout becomes almost invisible.
How are vending and selfservice solutions changing the way consumers pay for food and beverages? Vending and self-service environments are evolving into fully connected commerce touchpoints where consumers expect the same seamless payment experience, they would receive at a staffed counter. This shift has driven demand for unattended payment solutions that support contactless, mobile and QR-based transactions. Unattended is now mainstream behavior, with around one in five respondents in the UK and US selecting it as their most common way to pay, rising to 23 percent in Australia.
With solutions like TNSPay Unattended, which can be bundled as part of TNS Complete Commerce, operators can accept multiple payment types securely, manage estates remotely and ensure real-time transaction processing. Access to live data
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