chip and pin in a taxi

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as some of you know i'm a taxi operating type up in Glasgow

thinking about offering the facility of chip and pin in the cars.

just wanting to guage peoples opinions on this and whether people would use such a service in a taxi/private hire/minicab situation?


firstly if i go down this route it will be proper chip and pin machines ie proper handheld unit not some ropey on the phone affair or virtual terminal malarkey

ie

http://taxipay.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/CDP-182-202x300.jpg

couple of questions then if you dont mind

1- would you feel comfortable using a device- installed in a vehicle associated with one of the areas largest taxi companies?
2- what level of surcharge would you accept for the convienence of paying by card? most likely it would be going in at 5% surcharge on card payments but i'm open to your thoughts

3- any other thoughts/suggestions?
 
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The few times I've paid using chip & pin for a taxi journey I can't recall there being a surcharge at all.

Apart from that, I have no issue with using them in taxis whatsoever.
 
I think if it is a well established and well know firm then I would be completely happy using a card to pay.
 
i would never pay by chip and pin in a taxi. All the taxi drivers i know (family included) are not savoury characters.
 
I use card at every opportunity, hate using cash, so yes, I'd use it even with the 5% surcharge (Airmiles!).

To the above, there's more chance of "unsavoury" activities going on with cash than with card details.
 
What firm do you work for? I'd be fine with 5%, would stop me harassing my stressed out drivers to find a bank machine before I could pay them haha

Dunno how useful it'll be on thursday/friday/saturday nights though when people are ****ed as farts.
 
I'd use it, I'd pay by credit card for the safety aspect and I'd expect no surcharge since it costs you to handle cash anyway :).

You also need to make sure that prospective fares know that you take cards. Anything that sets you apart...
 
Sounds like a good idea, I don't think you should be charging extra for it though. Although the loss of tips might be an issue, those things are impossible to work when it comes to giving tips in a restaurant or similar. I once tipped the entire amount of the bill extra, luckily I got it refunded :p
 
Foxtrot26 said:
1- would you feel comfortable using a device- installed in a vehicle associated with one of the areas largest taxi companies?
2- what level of surcharge would you accept for the convienence of paying by card? most likely it would be going in at 5% surcharge on card payments but i'm open to your thoughts
3- any other thoughts/suggestions?
Click to expand...

1 - Yes if it is reputable and my card isn't going to get cloned.
2 - Surcharge...... at 5%..... sounds like creaming profit? Flat rate at a push, or nothing at all....
 
I'd use it if it was free, otherwise no. I can see hassles coming up with drivers refusing to stop off at cash points with this...

It's a good idea if the journey's long and stopping off at a cash machine would significantly add to it.
 
to be honest i'd most likely be happy to absorb the surcharge just curious as to whether people would accept it or not.

only problem would be advertising, no advertising allowed on private hire vehicles up in glasgow atm(glasgow city council rule) other than company identification and markers.

tbh would a chip and pin machine make it obvious that card payments are accepted?
 
I don't think I'd use the facility tbh, on the occasions I get a taxi back from Glasgow to Paisley it's normally with a mate or 2 and we split it and pay cash. Unless someone puts the whole lot on a card which is unlikely then it's a waste of space.

However, I could see the use for business runs to Glasgow Airport etc as I try to keep all my expenses on card for tracking purposes. It would have to be well presented with a proper fitted unit, I wouldn't trust handheld ones tbh. I'd want something which is installed into the actual body of the taxi and therefore harder to tamper with.
 
the reasoning behind the surcharge is that i have 2 options in going for a chip and pin

firstly my own bank who want 60 quid a month plus 2%

or a 3rd party company who want £20 a month and 5% i'd imagine going through my own bank would be beneficial in the likes of london, but i honestly dont see it being quite "as" popular north of the border. that said it would give customers another option etc in regards to tips etc it would be a completely seperate unit from our meter/radios and would involve the fare being inputted before each payment is processed so easy to add :)
 
50p surcharge would be fair I suppose, but I reckon more people would use it, therefore you getting your moneys worth, if there wasn't one.

And I don't think I would pay by card until I saw it becoming more mainstream, dunno if was in a Taxi and the driver said wanna pay by card, alarm bells would ring a little bit :)
 
Hairybudda said:
Chip and pin machines ain't free, he's gotta offset costs somehow
Click to expand...

Technically banking cash costs money also, that is one of the reasons Tesco offer cashback to clients to offload some of their cash onto you.

You might also get less tips /change so extra cost there though.
 
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