A new smart phone app will give both South Australian consumers and hotels the ultimate piece of mind when it comes to credit card security.
Launched today in Adelaide, OneTab www.onetab.com.au allows pub and bar patrons the ability to electronically establish and limit a bar tab from their smart phones, eliminating the need to ever hand their credit card over a bar to be held as security, as they currently are when a patron wants to open a tab.
The new technology also protects hotels from stolen or fraudulent cards or cards with inadequate balances.
The number of fraudulent card transaction surpassed one million in 2012, with total losses reaching a record $278 million, according to the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA)’s fraud statistics.
Spokesperson Burt Admiraal of H&L Australia said the OneTab concept was simple, effective and free.
“I’ve been involved with the hotel industry for more than 25 years and I can tell you that using credit cards as security for bar tabs really does cause issues on both sides of the bar.
“OneTab is almost deceptively simple and just makes sense! No longer will patrons have to queue at a bar to establish a tab, they never have to hand over their cards and there’s never a possibility of a card being misplaced, lost or abused,” he said.
The OneTab app allows patrons to preset a bar tab limit, which automatically closes off when the limit has been reached.
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OneTab co-founder Paul Wyatt said the concept evolved 12 months ago when he and co- founder Scott Cross were having a drink at a pub and discussing the issues around setting up a tab and the possibility of forgetting a credit card and leaving it behind the bar.
“We just thought there had to be a better, safer way to deal with opening a bar tab and after a year of working out how to commercialise the concept, here we are!” he said.
The Australian Hotels Association has welcomed the technology which it anticipates will be a useful tool in the battle against credit card fraud which is currently estimated to cost the industry many hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
“This App will have great appeal for customers and venue operators,” said AHA South Australia General Manager, Ian Horne.
“This will further enhance H&L’s reputation as a quality technology provider to the hospitality industry.”
Currently there are a growing number of hotels in South Australia utilising the in-house H&L technology to work with OneTab including the Robin Hood Hotel and Colonist Tavern in Norwood, The Curious Squire in North Adelaide, The Goodwood Park Hotel in Goodwood, the Brompton Hotel in Brompton, the Woodville Hotel in Woodville and the Strathmore in Adelaide’s CBD, with the system about to be rolled out nationally.
“We want to give patrons the ultimate flexibility to enjoy the venue of their choice along with the knowledge that they no longer have to worry about their credit cards or even carrying cash,” said Mr Admiral.
“We think it’s a great step forward for the hospitality industry.”
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