n the past two years, industry news about elec-tronic payments in dining establishments mostly focused on the quick service restaurant (QSR) countertop opportunity. Full service or table service operations, much further along the payments adoption curve, were taken for granted.

However, the convergence of increasing consumer debit card use with the availability of Wi-Fi mobility adds up to new opportunities to expand payment systems in all restaurants. Consumers' growing reliance on debit cards provides a powerful formula for up-selling restaurants on Wi-Fi-based payment solutions that will speed up all card-based transactions, increase revenue and enhance customer satisfaction.

The National Restaurant Association (NRA) projected that restaurant meals would account for almost 47% of the American consumer's food dollar in 2005. Some 900,000 dining establishments across the country generate a combined $1.3 billion in sales on a typical day. NRA projects full-service operations to generate almost $165 billion in sales this year, compared to $134 billion for QSR. If business is so good, what's wrong with existing POS systems that accept credit cards and signature-based (offline) debit cards? The answer is those systems are great for what they do, but limited in new areas that restaurants need to expand their business and keep diners happy.

While cardholders use signature-based debit cards in a similar manner as credit cards, some consumers and many merchants would much prefer the more secure and less costly alternative of PIN-based (online) debit. The number of PIN debit transactions, while still considerably smaller than signature debit in total dollar volume, is growing at a much faster rate.

Existing, stationary POS systems are ill-suited to the needs of PIN debit. Restaurants can't expect patrons to follow a waiter to a terminal station in order to enter their PIN, and they certainly won't hand over their card and then tell the waiter their PIN.

There's a need for restaurants to accommodate a tableside payment system for customers that is as easy as signing a credit card slip, but instead allows them to use their PIN. This means that the payment system has to be mobile so waiters can plunk it down right in front of the diner; it also has to be as intuitive to use as an ATM.

Although PIN debit usage is driving adoption of these new systems, the big selling point for restaurants is that such a system will streamline all their card transactions and increase productivity. There are seven steps required to handle the typical credit card tableside payment transaction. They are:

1. Customer asks for check
2. Server brings check
3. Server returns to table to pick up card
4. Server takes card back to POS system for base transaction, without tip
5. Server returns to table with check
6. Server returns to table to pick up check
7. Server or manager edits tip

A tableside system, such as VeriFone's TablePAY, reduces the process to the following three steps:

1. Customer asks for check, and server asks if they will be paying with plastic.
2. Server brings a mobile POS terminal to the table and leaves it with the customer. Customer swipes card, and terminal prompts for debit or credit, tip and PIN (if appropriate) and then prints receipt
3. Server picks up terminal and receipt and thanks customer.

What makes this system possible is Wi-Fi, the wireless form of broadband, or Internet Protocol (IP)-based computing. IP alone is a powerful and compelling selling point if a restaurant has not already made the switch.

Always-on IP connections help reduce transaction times to 2 - 4 seconds, compared to 12 or more for modem dial transactions. Wi-Fi also enables restaurants to use portable, IP-based systems without any physical connection such as a power cord, phone line or Ethernet cable.

Restaurants intensely focus on speed as a major contributor to productivity and profitability. More than two-thirds of restaurant operators surveyed by NRA at the end of last year said they are more productive than they were two years ago. Almost a third said they planned to increase spending on technology this year.

This surge in investment reflects the urgent market need for restaurants to adopt tools to provide competitive and optimal levels of service during peak revenue hours. Increasing the efficiency of the dining experience not only pleases the customer, but it also expands a restaurant's capacity without having to lay more brick and mortar. Wi-Fi and mobile POS enable restaurants to accept credit and debit cards almost anywhere, anytime.

Systems such as VeriFone's TablePAY provide a value proposition to operators, customers and servers through increased table turns, increased capacity, improved customer service and reduced wait times (both waiting for tables and waiting to pay).

These benefits add up to more revenue and greater profitability. Also, restaurants can offer more payment options that, in addition to increasing customer satisfaction, might reduce interchange costs. That's a very compelling story to take to your restaurant customers.

David Talach is VeriFone's Global Product Manager of Wireless & Portables. He plays a key role in analyzing wireless industry trends and defining, designing and delivering wireless products to meet merchants' current and emerging requirements. E-mail him at david_talach@verifone.com .