McDonald's says credit card sales will speed service
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Customers of McDonald's Corp. — the world's biggest restaurant chain — will be able to pay for their food with credit and debit cards beginning next year under a plan long in the works.
The wait to get that Big Mac and supersized fries might be a short one if — as envisioned — a customer using a credit card at McDonald's restaurants could place an order, swipe his or her card and get approval in 4 to 5 seconds, with no signature needed.
As many as 25 percent of McDonald's 13,300 U.S. restaurants are targeted to receive the technology by the middle of 2003, a spokesman for the Oak Brook, Ill.-based company said yesterday.
"It is ultimately about speed of service," spokesman Bill Whitman said. "The target for service time is 90 seconds or less, and this is going to shave some time off of that at the front counter as well as the drive-through."
Stores in France, parts of Latin America, Asia and Australia already accept the cards, he said.
McDonald's hopes that also translates to shorter lines, happier customers and franchisees and more sales at a time when the fast-food industry is struggling amid stiff competition in a crowded restaurant market.
No minimum purchase will be required, Whitman said.
Based on the current plan, the McDonald's customer would place an order, swipe his or her credit card to pay and get approval in 4 to 5 seconds, with no signature needed. That's roughly half the time of a cash transaction.
McDonald's is adding menu items and updating stores to entice customers as sales decline and people complain about service and food. The company is not the first fast-food chain to accept credit cards, but it is the largest.
So far, fast-food eateries' use of credit cards appears to be paying off, with credit-card purchases an average 20 percent to 30 percent more than cash ones, according to Visa U.S.A.
