There are new alternative ways to pay at food venues on Court Street, making business more efficient for both the customer and employees.
Swiping a credit or debit card in a mechanism attached to an iPad or iPhone is becoming increasingly common Uptown.
The Square Reader is a service to charge cards on the go and is compatible with a “Square Stand” that attaches a device to a phone or tablet.
The Square keeps track of daily purchases and deposits the money directly into businesses’ accounts overnight. It can also show business owners their returning customers based on card numbers.
“For a small business like mine, it’s perfect,” said Jay Wamsley, owner of the Not Guilty food cart. “When we first were setting up for the cart our daughter was our mentor and she told us ‘if you’re going to set up on campus, you’re going to need to take cards,’ and she was right about it.”
Businesses are charged 2.75 percent of each charge to use the service. The rate is 3.5 percent with a $0.15 fee per item if an employee has to manually punch in a credit card number.
Wamsley has been using the Square Payment method for more than two years.
“I don’t have a minimum (amount to use a card),” Wamsley said. “Some people want to buy a dollar bottle of water and that’s fine with me because it’s only 2.75 percent (rate).”
Brenen’s Coffee Café, 38 S Court St., began using the Square Stand in August.
“It was just more efficient in that the new systems are easier for us to handle and it’s easier for the (customers) as well,” said Rachel Wagner, an employee at Brenen’s and a junior studying communication studies.
Fluff Bakery and Catering also uses the service and believes it’s better for customers, said Ariel Bezoski, a manager at Fluff.
Another nontraditional way to pay on Court Street besides the Square is Apple Pay. Apple Pay is an app that allows customers to pay with their phones or smart watches.
The devices that are compatible with Apple Pay are the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad mini 3 and iPad Air 2. Older devices paired with Apple Watch will also be compatible with Apple Pay once the watch is released in early 2015.
Subway is using Apple Pay nationwide, including the Athens branch.
“We haven’t seen a lot of people use it actually. I haven’t seen anyone use it,” said Mandy Neutzling, manager for Subway on Court Street. “Corporate changed it and we’re not really sure how it works yet.”
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