Using contactless credit card processing to lower the risk of exposure for your customer and employee is a practical step that can be taken to make the process of collecting payment safer and more secure.

Contactless Payment

By staff bringing the credit card reader to the car, customers can stay in the vehicle and insert or tap the reader with their EMV chip-embedded cards. If they use payment methods like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Android Pay, the customer can place the phone within two inches of the terminal to complete payment. If done through the passenger side window, this can increase the distance between the employee and customer while still allowing the process to work.

Terminal Contact

If the customer needs to use the keypad on the terminal to enter a debit PIN, we recommend providing the customer with a disinfectant wipe with which to touch the keys. You can also disinfect the reader prior to and after each customer touches it and inform them that it’s been cleaned. If you aren’t able to bring the reader directly to the customer, keeping the reader in the bay area still reduces the steps for your employees to process the credit card and keeps you in sight of the customer so they can watch the transaction. If you touch their card be sure to wipe it with a disinfectant just prior to returning it to the customer.

If you are not using an integrated credit card solution and need to print a slip receipt, keep a small clipboard and a number of pens available that can be disinfected before and after customer use. Have separate boxes marked “clean” and “used” so your technicians know they are grabbing a clean pen for the customer.

Assuming your terminal is communicating via an internet connection, you can move the terminal and slip receipt printer out into the bays by connecting it to your network and power in the bay via extended cables.

Merchant Partners Interface

The Merchant Partners and LubeSoft® interface provides a number of the advantages. One significant benefit is there is no need to have a separate slip receipt printer. The credit card information prints on the ISI invoice and the customer can sign the authorization for the transaction and service on the reader’s touchscreen display. Employees don’t need to key in the amount of the transaction, which lessens the amount of key touches and reduces the margin for error of keying in the wrong amount. LubeSoft can also email the invoice, alleviating the need for a paper invoice that needs to be signed. This is advantageous when servicing fleet customers. In addition, LubeSoft offers the option to automatically email the invoice to an additional specified fleet contact.

Another benefit of using this interface is fleet cards, like Wright Express (WEX), Voyager and Visa Fleet, can be processed through the same reader which lowers the need for additional terminal or manual effort.

If you do not have an available data cable in the service bay to connect the Merchant
Partners credit card terminal, we recommend the purchase of a five-port network switch from a local computer or office supply store to install where there is an existing network cable in the bay. The switch can then be plugged into the credit card reader and thin client.

If you are interested in Merchant Partners but do not have LubeSoft, Merchant Partners can provide a “stand-alone” credit card reader that has all of the features, absent the benefit of integration. Please call the ISI sales department and they will help connect you to the right staff at Merchant Partners.

With the expectation that Covid-19 will be around for the foreseeable future, we suggest ensuring you can accept and process credit transactions via Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Android Pay. Advertise it and make it known. Encourage customers to take advantage of contactless pay and make sure your staff understands how it works so they can assist customers with ease.

We hope you will find these ideas helpful as you consider how best to safely protect your employees and service your customers.