The Future of Restaurant Payments Is Tied to Your Phone

When it comes to eating out, waiting for the bill is one part of the meal that often drags on the dining experience. When customers are ready to pay and leave, the faster that is facilitated, the better. To solve the issue, several restaurant tech players are testing digital payment solutions to eradicate that waiting period. QikServe, a U.K.-based company that focuses on self-serve solutions in hospitality, has been piloting a mobile payment program with two casual dining brands in the U.S. that allows diners to pay for their meal — and eventually order at the table — either through the brand's own app or a web page that's loaded by scanning a QR code at the table. "I think the most important thing is we give the guest a choice, ultimately," Daniel Rodgers, QikServe's founder, explained. "For a lot of restaurant guests, they don’t go often enough to justify downloading an app for an experience that they are not going to do frequently. Being able to engage at different leve