A pioneering new payment service will be trailed in Manchester’s Lowry Hotel River Restaurant, in the city that gave birth to Graphene, the world’s thinnest and cleverest material.
Payper’s five-second payment method uses graphene’s unique properties to enable a customer’s mobile phone to detect the receipt data, providing an instant option to pay on their smartphone screen.
The payment system will revolutionaries the way customer’s pay their bill as it provides a convenient and contactless way to pay in seconds, without waiting for staff or downloading an app.
The pioneering idea is being commercialised by start-up Payper Technologies, co-founded byDr Thanasis Georgiou, who said: “The pioneering idea was conceived by the founder, Dr Thanasis Georgiou after he was left waiting to pay the restaurant bill for 20 minutes,” explained Payper co-founder Renate Kalnina.
“After spending ten years on advanced material research, he saw a clear opportunity to use graphene to address this industry problem. We solved the issue of card terminal jams and downtime, allowing restaurants to run their operations more efficiently at a reduced cost.
“Throughout development, we needed a way to manufacture graphene, which meant having a good understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of different techniques. We were able to formulate conductive inks that have sufficient characteristics to work with our antennas.
“Once we had manufactured the graphene antenna rolls, we then built the necessary software to handle the payments. We are now in discussions with multiple restaurants who have expressed an interest in trialling the technology.”
“At the home of graphene’s isolation, we are delighted to be able to trial this new technology in Manchester at The Lowry Hotel River Restaurant.
Research by Payper found that 69 per cent of customers said that paying is one of the most infuriating experiences when dining out. Payper’s research has indicated this more streamlined checkout process will result in increased customer loyalty, and a 30 per cent uplift in customer lifetime value.
Adrian Ellis, General Manager at The Lowry Hotel said: “We are delighted to be the flagship hotel in the UK trialling this new enhanced payment method to our customers.
“Graphene was isolated at The University of Manchester, so it really is a privilege to be using a product that not only makes the customer journey more convenient but is also sportive of the city the product was founded.
Stronger than steel and thinner than paper Graphene is a single, thin layer of graphite — the soft, flaky material used in pencil lead. It is a mere one-atom thick, the first two-dimensional material ever discovered. Despite this, graphene is also one of the strongest materials in the known universe. With a tensile strength of 130 GPa (gigapascals), it is more than 100 times stronger than steel.
It also has powerful electrical properties and is highly flexible and transparent – perfect for use in portable electronics. With graphene, smartphones, tablets and wearable electronics can be made even more useful, designed to fit snugly around limbs and bending to accommodate various forms of exercise.
