There are about 36 million credit and debit cards in the UK that can perform contactless transactions, where you tap the card on a card reader instead of using chip and PIN.
And after a bit of a slow start, it seems people are starting to embrace contactless. An estimated 125 contactless payments a minute are made with VISA cards alone.
So, here are five reasons your business should offer contactless payments:
Queues are bad for business. They frustrate customers, who sometimes walk away if they don’t have time to wait.
Contactless payments only take a second or so.
It might not sound like that’ll make much difference compared to using chip and PIN or counting out change. However, if you serve hundreds of people a day, you’ll notice a drop in queue length and an increase in happy customers.
Currently, contactless payments are limited to £20 per transaction. But research shows that because consumers can spend more than just the change in their pockets, they do tend to spend a bit more.
In future, it’s likely the £20 ceiling will be raised, giving customers even greater contactless spending power.
To start using contactless, you may need to buy a new payment terminal. Once up and running, it’s unlikely transactions will cost you more.
In fact, contactless transactions on debit cards usually attract lower charges than chip and PIN. And that means you’ll have a little extra in the till at the end of the day.
Although contactless saves time on transactions, it doesn’t have to strip away all human engagement.
It’s important businesses develop relationships with regular customers. And with less time spent focusing on the mechanics of paying, you have more time to make conversation.
Keeping up with new trends can be daunting. But if you embrace those that come your way, you’ll keep your business on top of its game — and ahead of the competition.
Or to put it another way: contactless is growing. Maybe your customers aren’t that bothered about using it yet. And maybe none of your competitors have it today. But both those facts will change. Are you ready?
Andy Macauley is chief operating officer of Handepay.
By the standards of traditional industries, web design is incredibly young. Yet in the 20-ish years it’s been possible to make a living from building websites, the approaches and techniques involved have changed remarkably.
You only have to browse back through the Internet Archive to see the differences between then and now. Just check out Microsoft in 1996, Ford in 2000 or British Airways in 1999.
Web design agency Aptitude has taken a look back over the history of web design in this interesting infographic:
(Incidentally, we don’t think it’s accurate to say mobile internet access exceeded desktop access as early as 2008. It probably hasn’t happened yet — but we’ll let that slide.)
IT for Donuts is our regular Friday feature where we explain a tech term or answer a question about business IT.
This week, see how to copy formatting from one piece of text to another in Microsoft Word.
The little-known but supremely-useful Format Painter tool in Word lets you select some text, then copy how that text is formatted across to another chunk of text.
It's a big timesaver when you're trying to work with text you've copied and pasted from different sources, or you're trying to get a messy document into some semblance or order.
Here's how to copy formatting from one block of text to another:
1. Select the text that's formatted the way you want by clicking and dragging with the mouse
2. Click the Format Painter on the Microsoft Word ribbon. It'll look something like this:
(It might also be labelled Format Painter.)
3. Find the text you want to format in the same way.
4. Highlight that text by clicking and dragging with the mouse
5. When you release the mouse button, the formatting of the text will change.
You should find that all formatting transfers, like text font, effects, size, colours, shading and spacing.
According to the government, cybercrime costs the UK economy around £27 billion each year.
If your business suffers even a tiny fraction of that loss, it would be devastating. So, how so you make your company less of a target?
By fighting back against cybercrime. That’s how.
Use decent security software on all your company computers and servers. If you’re in any doubt about what you need, ask your IT supplier.
Importantly, make sure your security software updates itself. This is the only way to stay safe from emerging threats.
Learn more about choosing security software >>
A professional IT security audit is worth every penny. When an expert examines your IT setup, they’ll identify where you’re most vulnerable to attack.
Armed with this crucial information, you can create extra security measures and write a solid security policy.
IT security is not just about software. Any equipment that connects to the outside world (like your router) should be modern and made by a reputable manufacturer.
At the same time, check your premises for weak points. For example, if you keep your backup tapes in a safe, change the combination regularly. Consider installing CCTV too.
Social engineering sounds creepy, but it refers to the way cybercriminals may try and con your people, rather than attacking your computers.
Make sure your employees look out for cold callers and unusual visitors. People who are good at social engineering tend to have the gift of the bag. It’s surprisingly easy to reveal a username or password to them.
Staff should also know how to handle ‘digital cold calls’, like phishing attempts.
Whatever you do, don’t neglect your people. One of the most effective precautions you can take is to make sure your staff know how to handle data safely and spot criminal behaviour.
Ryan Farmer is a marketing manager at Acumin. Follow them on Twitter: @acumin.
With mobile devices still increasing in popularity, it’s never been more important for your website to cater for mobile users.
As Ofcom said nearly three years ago, we are a ‘nation addicted to smartphones’. While sales of traditional PCs are gradually declining, smart phones and tablets are on the up.
If you’ve never done anything about your mobile presence, the time for action is now. There are many factors to consider.
Different devices have varying screen sizes, resolutions and processing power. There’s a choice of platforms, too — like iOS, Android and Windows.
It would be virtually impossible to create a different version of your website tailored to each individual device. However, you can use responsive web design instead.
Responsive web design is a way of making sure your website provides a universally good experience for visitors, regardless of what device they use.
It’s the ‘one size fits all’ approach to web design. When you create a responsive website, the various elements (images, content, navigation and so on) shift and change with the screen size.
You’ll soon understand if you see a responsive website in action. Go and visit Time Magazine on your computer, then resize your web browser window. As the size of the window changes, the content moves around to fit.
This means responsive sites work well on both large monitors and tiny smart phones.
So, responsive web design sounds good. But is there evidence to say it’s worth investing time and money in?
Many companies that have moved to a responsive web design have experienced growth in conversion rates, creating a sales uplift from mobile traffic. We are yet to see the full impact mobile devices will have on online behavior. However, they’re certainly here to stay.
This means it’s vital to consider taking a responsive approach with any new or redesigned websites.
Some businesses have a much higher proportion of mobile visitors than others. But as mobile devices become even more common, you really should think about the responsive web.
Blog by Adrian Case of Akita Systems, providing IT support and consultancy to the South East of England since 1996.
IT for Donuts is our regular Friday feature where we explain a tech term or answer a question about business IT.
This week, find out how to snap a screenshot on your iPhone or iPad.
The iPhone and iPad are two big tech success stories from the last few years. But it can be surprising how many hidden features lie beneath that straightforward Apple interface.
One of those is the screenshot facility. People often trigger it without meaning to, and without realising what they've done.
So, how do you take a screenshot when you need to?
It's really simple: just hold down the home button (that's the round button below the screen of your iPad or iPhone). Then while you're holding it, tap the power button (that's the button on the top edge of your iPhone —it's also called the lock button). You can then release both buttons.
The screen should flash briefly to confirm a screenshot has been taken.
To find your screenshot, open the Camera app and tap the button to view your photos. You'll find your screenshot there.
Free Wi-Fi seems like one of the great perks of the 21st century. In pubs and cafes in towns and cities across the UK, you can get online for nowt.
But now Europol — the EU’s law enforcement agency — is warning that using free Wi-Fi could be much riskier than we’ve realised.
In short, each time you connect to a public network, you could be playing a kind of Russian roulette with the data you send over the airwaves.
Cybercriminals and hackers have spotted that we’re hooked on the convenience of free Wi-Fi. What’s more, they know most of us are accustomed to connecting without giving a thought to security. And they’re taking advantage.
A typical attack is for a hacker to set up a rogue network. They give it the same name and password (if applicable) as a legitimate network nearby.
For instance, a criminal might set up ‘John’s Café Wi-Fi’ near to John’s Café. When an unsuspecting punter connects, the attacker can intercept all the data that gets sent and received.
Sensitive files and information sent by email, personal data entered into website forms … it’s all there for them to harvest and use.
This isn’t a particularly clever or novel trick. But it works. Next time you’re connecting to a network in a public place, can you be sure it is what you think it is?
It can be difficult to be 100% sure that you’re safe when you use public Wi-Fi. And so the best way to protect your data is to not send or receive sensitive or private data while using it.
That’s easier said than done. One of the most popular uses for Wi-Fi is catching up on email, which can contain all kinds of data that’s valuable to hackers.
However, it’s definitely a good idea to think twice before entering your online banking details or other sensitive login details.
Being on a secure website (indicated by https:// and a padlock in your web browser) does offer some protection, but hackers can still use a technique called sslstrip to intercept your data if they really want.
The safest option is to connect via a virtual private network (VPN), which creates a secure tunnel through which your data passes. You can purchase VPN access from companies like Hotspot Shield — there’s a good explanation and some reviews of VPNs over on the PC Advisor website.
If you missed the news last week, experts have discovered a flaw in popular encryption software OpenSSL.
This is a big deal because OpenSSL protects hundreds of thousands of websites, including big names like Google, YouTube, Tumblr and Yahoo.
The issue is called Heartbleed. Although OpenSSL is meant to protect data transferred between a website and person using it, Heartbleed may allow hackers to access that data.
Heartbleed is a high-profile story because so many websites use OpenSSL. But there's been a lot of confusion over what we should do about it.
Some websites have advised you to change all your passwords. Others have suggested that's counterproductive until every website has been fixed. So, we've investigated what businesses need to be concerned about.
First off, let's get one thing clear: Heartbleed is a real issue. You should definitely spend a few minutes thinking about how it might affect your business.
There are two aspects you need to be aware of:
Does your website use a secure connection (where a padlock appears in the browser)? If so, it's vital you check which encryption technology it uses.
If you're not used to getting into the nuts and bolts of your website, speak to your web developer or to the company that supplies your SSL service (usually your web hosting firm).
You can also pop your website address into this Heartbleed checker, which will let you know if your site is affected.
If you get the all-clear, that's great — you don't need to worry. But if your site does have the Heartbleed vulnerability, you should get it fixed — pronto.
This means updating to the latest version of OpenSSL, which doesn't suffer from Heartbleed. Your web hosting company or web developer should be able to do this for you.
In the meantime, consider deactivating the secure parts of your website. Better safe than sorry, after all.
Experts reckon around 500,000 websites are affected by Heartbleed. There's a good chance some of them are services you use regularly.
Changing passwords is the way to go here. But you need to make sure the problem is fixed before you change a password on a particular website. Otherwise, you risk exposing your new password too.
Most major websites will have fixed their systems by now. Again, you can use the Heartbleed checker to make sure.
As a precaution, we'd advise changing all the passwords on sites you use regularly — but only when you're sure those sites are secure.
Remember, it's safest to use a separate password for each website and to make sure all passwords are nice and strong.
There's one last thing to bear in mind. Heartbleed was around for a long time before it was discovered. As a result, nobody's certain if any hackers exploited it before it became common knowledge.
In case your business or personal data has been affected, it's a good idea to check your online banking, email and other services you use regularly. If you notice anything out of the ordinary, do investigate.
IT for Donuts is our regular Friday feature where we explain a tech term or answer a question about business IT.
This week, we reveal the fastest way to make text bigger (or smaller) in your web browser.
There are lots of reasons for changing the text size in your browser. Maybe you're finding a website hard to read, or you want to fit more onto the screen at once.
Either way, it's super-easy to zoom in and out. If you're using a Windows PC, try these shortcuts:
On a Mac, use the same shortcuts but hold CMD instead of CTRL.
It really is that easy — so you never need to squint at a website again!
If you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to suffer severe back pain, you were probably too busy trying not to move to worry about how much it was costing your business.
But according to the Work Foundation, back pain costs the UK economy £7bn a year in work-related absence. Yes, you read that correctly: seven BILLION pounds for bad backs.
That figure starkly illustrates why a few quid spent on decent equipment — plus training so your staff know how to use it — is a very worthwhile investment.
Quite apart from the fact that, as an employer, you have a duty of care to your employees, back pain and other problems can cost your company dearly.
Neck pain, repetitive strain injury and other ailments are worryingly common. Recent research from the Post Office Shop found that 63% of Britain’s office workers complain of aches at their workstation.
Even if musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) like these aren’t enough to force people to take time off, they can sap productivity and damage the atmosphere in your office as your employees (understandably) moan about their aches and pains.
Ergonomic issues can creep up on your company if you don’t stay on top of them — particularly if the people in your business don’t like to make a fuss. Getting the basics right is pretty straightforward.
Buy good-quality, fully adjustable office chairs. Make sure monitors can be positioned at an appropriate height, and allow staff to request footrests, additional lumbar support, wrist rests and other ergonomic devices to make themselves comfortable.
Even small things can make an enormous difference. For instance, if someone complains they find their mouse uncomfortable, consider swapping it for an alternative model — or perhaps a trackball. You won’t resent the expense if it helps your employee avoid carpal tunnel syndrome.
But as well as providing appropriate equipment, you must make sure your staff know how to use it properly.
I’ve worked in offices where colleagues have hunched over their laptops because they didn’t know they could plug in to the external monitors, keyboards and mice provided. (Or perhaps they just couldn’t be bothered.)
Either way, you can’t take it for granted that everyone knows how to sit at a desk correctly. So make sure you brief new staff appropriately and offer guidance to existing employees.
Health and safety gets a reputation for creating unnecessary rules and pointless box-ticking. But in truth, most of these rules exist for a reason.
They protect your employees — and by extension, they protect your business. Make sure you know what you should be doing.
Back at the beginning of the year, LondonlovesBusiness.com and Sage drew up a list of ten innovation trends that will be key to business growth in 2014.
Now we’re three months into the year, how many of these predictions look accurate to you?
Business owners stand to benefit substantially from the rise of alternative finance over the coming months.
Credit cards, overdrafts and loans are no longer the only ways to finance business growth. Crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending, equity funding, supply chain finance and invoice discounting are all worth investigating and pursuing.
Skillshare, Sidecar, and Zipcar are successful examples of the burgeoning sharing economy in action.
These business models allow customers to share products rather than buy them outright. Their rise is encouraging for smaller companies, because they can attract customers who can’t manage to buy their products outright.
Mobile money is on the rise. New payment technologies are making it easy to handle your finances on the go.
You can now create and manage invoices and take credit card payments on your smart phone.
2014 is the year ‘big data’ stops being a buzzword and starts being something smaller companies can really use.
Improving analytics technology is giving businesses the opportunity to drive growth through data. Learn more details about your most valuable customers. Understand your finances more intimately. Make strategic decisions that are driven by data more than by gut feeling.
In 2014, consumers expect personalisation. Big companies understand that we have entered the age of clever comms, and are big data and analytics to offer highly personalised products to their target audience.
Smaller businesses must follow this lead. Bombarding your market with poorly directed emails just doesn’t cut it anymore (although you could argue that it never did).
Some of the most exciting tech-start ups are pioneering what looks set to become a major feature of business in 2014: collaboration and co-creation.
They’ve realised that by working side-by-side, separate businesses have a greater chance of sparking new ideas for innovation and growth.
If you’re in retail, the rise and rise of price comparison apps means it’s really important that people entering your shop have an unforgettable experience.
That space is yours alone. It’s the ideal platform to showcase your brand’s identity, so you should make the most of it.
Social media is everywhere, but social listening and trend watching are becoming increasingly important in directing product development.
If you are selective and intelligent with the social channels you employ, they can help you work out exactly what your customers want.
Britain is no longer in recession, but people are still mindful of their wallets. Pricing strategies that appeal to austerity Britain will remain popular.
Just look at the recent successes of companies like Pizza Express, who offer clever discounts through voucher websites such as Groupon.
No, sustainability isn’t just a buzzword. A company’s carbon footprint and its desire to give back to the local community are increasingly important in consumer decision-making.
Practicing responsible, ethical business can benefit both society and your profit margins.
This post was written by Piers Barber, a business writer for Sage Business Software who has an interest in the growth of mobile technology and business.
Even if you take every precaution imaginable, it’s still possible for your business to fall victim to a security breach. And while nobody wants to be that victim, it’s worth giving some thought to how you’d manage your reputation in the wake of a cyber-attack.
We reveal the five steps every business should take to minimise damage and rebuild their reputation.
When US retail giant Target suffered a huge data breach last year, one of the biggest criticisms levelled at the company is that it didn’t do a good job of acting quickly and communicating well with customers.
Don’t make that mistake. Once you’ve taken the necessary precautions to secure your systems, share information with your customers, employees and partners.
Being as honest as possible when communicating the crisis will ultimately reassure customers that you are doing everything you can to resolve the issue and protect their details.
Hiding the truth from loyal customers will only damage your credibility in the long run. When tech firm Buffer was hacked, the company remained open and communicative throughout.
Do your best to provide first class support to any customers affected by the issue. They probably aren’t IT experts, so you’ll need to assist and reassure them if you want them to remain with your business.
Be on hand to respond to customer queries and you’ll retain your reputation and customer relationships long after the breach.
Think about who you’re talking to when you communicate what’s happened. Tailor your message to address the concerns of each group.
For instance, while customers will be concerned about whether their data has been compromised, investors and partners will require specific information on how your company’s reputation, value and long-term prospects could be affected.
You’ll be surprised at how far an apology goes. While many businesses will be quick to blame a third party for their security weaknesses, more switched on companies understand that customers don’t want to hear excuses.
Take ownership of your problems and be clear and compassionate about what went wrong, how you plan to fix things and why you can be certain this won’t happen again.
This post was written by Brittany Thorley, who regularly advises businesses about web security.
IT for donuts is our regular Friday feature where we explain a tech term or answer a question about business IT.
This week: how do you remove unwanted software from your computer?
Most people only use a few pieces of software regularly.
Typically, you'll use your web browser to access the internet, Microsoft Office for documents, spreadsheets and presentations — and maybe one or two other programs, depending on what you need to do day to day.
However, most people's computers have lots of pieces of software on them. Mostly, these programs just sit there. They don't get used, but they don't really get in the way, either.
Sometimes it's a good idea to remove some software from your computer. For instance, perhaps:
It's usually quite easy to remove a program from your computer. Here are instructions for Windows 7 and Windows 8:
When you're signed in to Windows 7, follow these steps:
If you use Windows 8, it's best to follow these instructions:
These instructions will work in most circumstances. However, some pieces of software include their own 'uninstaller' programs, which you can run from your desktop or Start menu to remove the software automatically.