Amid all of the steps restaurant operators have been taking to remove friction from processes ranging from payment to staff scheduling, there is one area where friction is your friend: preventing fraud in your business. According to Kroll’s 2023 Fraud and Financial Crime Report, 69 percent of global executives and risk professionals expect financial crime risks to rise over the next year, with cybersecurity and data breaches being the biggest drivers.
The spike in digital transactions in recent years has made it easier to commit fraud – but you can take steps to minimize your risks. Bank of America’s State of the Restaurant Industry report advises restaurants to monitor anomalies in their accounts and other back-office operations, as well as take stock of areas of vulnerability. For example, note requests for refunds or payment voids, overpayment notices, digital payments that seem unusual in size or that are arriving from new sources or out of sequence, and communications that seem unusual. You can protect your largest areas of vulnerability by incorporating some extra checks that need to happen before transactions can be processed. That can include adding verification steps on invoice receipts and matching invoices to purchase orders, for instance. When onboarding a new vendor, verify their identity and key details. When you receive an account change request, require wait times or hold payment pending verification. If you receive a payment outside of the expected cycle or if you receive a large payment amount, you can establish review protocols and use protections such as multifactor authentication to make sure the transaction is legitimate. By adding some extra friction in the form of verification checks, you can make your business a less appealing target for fraud.
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Throughout the past few years, making payments easier for consumers has been a key focus in restaurants. Payments have become faster and contactless while involving less interaction with staff. These changes have benefited restaurants too, though there is room for improvement. For instance, the ubiquitous QR codes that enable ordering and payment at the table may result in multiple credit card purchases per table when a guest decides to add a drink or a dessert to their order. Restaurants are then left to pay a processing fee each time a card is swiped. Fortunately, payment technology is evolving for restaurants in ways that help maximize efficiency and minimize the accumulation of expenses. For example, middleware payment processors are allowing operators to keep guest tabs open and minimize the number of times a guest has to swipe their card at the table. Limiting the number of card swipes per guest may have the added positive effect of encouraging higher tabs as well. Payment technology is also helping restaurants make the most of any customer information they collect. For example, omnichannel tokens that enable customer payments across multiple channels make it possible for restaurants to gather helpful information about a customer – even if the guest hasn’t joined the restaurant’s loyalty program. Food On Demand reports that the technology enables a restaurant to analyze a guest’s behavior across channels, so while the restaurant may not know who the guest is, it can see when and how often the person eats in the dining room and places an order online. At a basic level, this can help feed an operator’s decisions on menu, promotions and staffing. |
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