Ensuring customer-centric benefits and experiences have been the focuses of the Hospitality and Entertainment industry. Organizations incorporate technologies to digitalize their operations for automation and better efficiency. On the other hand, digital transformation and digital-based behaviors bring about a more personalized approach to a customer-centric experience. This digital transformation can be realized through the adoption of smart card technology with emphasis on Nearfield Communication (NFC), Mobile technology, and Internet of Things (IoT).
Smart card and mobile technology with NFC capability has been applied to tourism accommodations and travels, restaurants, events, recreational attractions, and gambling facilities as a secure element for physical access, e-purse, loyalty, and peer-to-peer information exchange to encourage the most convenient and memorable experience that customers can possibly encounter.
In the travel and tourism space, when tourists or customers are presented with the flexibility to use smart cards or mobile phones to check-in/check-out, pay their food and shopping needs, and pay for their modes of transportation while at the same time earning loyalty points to receive perks in return, transactions become seamless and personalized.
In event management situations, NFC-enabled phones can be a tool for online registration and secure element for physical access and peer-to-peer exchange of virtual business cards for fast and easy event engagement and networking.
In recreational attractions, promoting the usage of NFC-enabled phones/wristbands/cards for theme park/ concert access, dining, and shopping simplifies the tap and go activities for both adults and children. While on the recreational organizations’ point of view, volume transactions are handled faster, more accurate and efficient.
Lastly, casinos and other gambling facilities create digital transformation by replacing gambling chips to smart card technology as secured e-purse in order to streamline transactions with less exposure to human error processing and possible malicious digital attacks.
Regardless of the type of smart card technology to be used such as contact, contactless/NFC, or dual-interface in access control, e-purse, or loyalty systems, the secured storage and messaging capabilities and proven encryption algorithms (e.g. AES, 3KDES, etc) brings a higher level of security is already an advantage due to the existence of powerful and. NFC-enabled mobile phone is also a secure element variation, stakeholders can integrate both to work with smart card reader terminals seamlessly. The choice comes down to the preferred model and budget among stakeholders involved.
Hospitality and entertainment establishments that complement their existing property management systems, online reservation mechanism, smart parking, e-payment schemes, self-service kiosks, physical/logical access control and other digital transformative solutions with smart card technology reduces operating costs brought about by human error, workload redundancy, and malicious digital attacks. Smart card technology collects essential data and creates an avenue for data analytics and customer sentiment analysis. These analytics can surely assist on implementing systems or initiatives for better customer service hence, improving the company’s overall business. On the other hand, automation and digitalization harmonizes machine and employee interaction to customers generating a fast and convenient way for customer to avail its services.
The ease and speed of using smart cards or NFC-enabled smart phones devices for physical access to different areas of a hospitality and entertainment establishment offers a massive on security and. The efficiency of the tap and go concept at a restaurant, shop, hotel, or a recreational attraction saves the customer’s time and effort brought about by long lines or queues thus, further satisfying a more comfortable payment and shopping experience. Gambling using a smart card in different form factors such as token or wristband as replacement to casino chips allows bettors a compact storage of credits for a secure, safe, and accurate gambling experience. The overall advantage of using smart card technology in general is the ability to streamline all the applications mentioned into one smart card or smart phone therefore, enhancing customer satisfaction.
Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, businesses that usually require close proximity of human interaction such as the hospitality and entertainment establishments have been negatively affected by closures or temporary halting of operations due to high possibility of spreading the disease. Since smart card and IoT technologies allow online transactions and machine to machine communications, these solutions encourage employees and visitors a safe space for social distancing therefore, lessening exposure to air-borne diseases like Covid-19 from human-to-human interaction.
Smart card technology advocates end to end paperless transactions. As long as the smart phones and smart cards are compatible to the installed reader terminals, these secure elements can be reused or recycled safely and securely with the proper system in place.
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