Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
With restaurants scrambling to launch digital-payment options and a bevy of firms eager to satisfy that demand, the technology giant Oracle Corp. on Tuesday launched its Oracle Food and Beverage Payment Cloud Service. The Redwood Shores, Calif.-based company bills the new product as standing alone in offering contactless payments and mobile-wallet acceptance with fixed rates, and with no long-term contracts or monthly minimum volume.
The latest entry in this market comes as many eateries are still working out how to satisfy customer demand for digital payments, both at the table and in delivery channels. That demand has attracted new entrants as well as new products and services from established players in the space, including major processors such as Shift4 Payments Inc., Toast Inc., Revel Systems, and Block Inc.’s Square platform.
The onset of the pandemic heightened restaurateurs’ urgency to introduce contactless-payment options, a move that has accustomed diners to expect touchless technologies even as the pandemic wanes. Mobile-wallet options offered by the new Oracle offering include Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.
With its new entry, Oracle is betting on fixed-rate pricing to appeal to restaurant managers. Its processing partner for the venture is Adyen NV. “We’re working with Oracle to help them bring payments in-house and offer their customers a complete solution via our Adyen for Platforms product,” said Roelant Prins, Adyen’s chief commercial officer, in a statement. “We’re excited about the present opportunity and the future aspiration to expand this offer to [Oracle’s] global customer base.”
The new venture also depends on technology from long-time restaurant specialist Micros, which Oracle acquired in 2014 for $5.3 billion. Oracle says the new service is integrated with the Oracle Micros Symphony point-of-sale system, which it says will help restaurants analyze payments data and forecast cash flow. But while Oracle is not new to the hospitality market, it is clearly placing its biggest bet on its pitch for fee transparency to attract new clients. “Hidden fees and long-term contracts have long been an issue with payment processors in the food-and-beverage industry, with many providers capitalizing at the expense of independent operators who often already run on thin margins,” said Simon de Montfort Walker, senior vice president and general manager at Oracle Food and Beverage, in a statement.
