SMARTPHONES can now be used to set and settle food and drinks tabs at key hotels and pubs around South Australia.
South Australians will be the first to give the Australian-first system a go.
OneTab is described as a convenient, fast and secure mobile payment system that allows you to set up, track and pay for food and bar tabs on your night out - eliminating the need to for patrons to ever hand their credit card over a bar and also protects hotels from stolen or fraudulent cards or cards with inadequate balances.
Tess Wheeler, 22, said she loved the new app, which was easy to use and quick.
"Often, I leave the pub and I have forgotten to sign off and collect my card," she said. "The app just helps with not having to think about returning the next morning to tidy things up."
The app is free to download and integrates with the point-of-sale system of the venue.
All patrons need to do is find their venue on the app - and there are ten hotels and pubs in Adelaide that will have this system, including the Robin Hood Hotel - open a tab, set a credit limit, once the card balance is verified, a code is generated, which needs to be shown to the bartender.
They can then order as normal; when ready to move on, just click pay.
OneTab, developed by Queensland-based Paul Wyatt and Scott Cross, is linked to SA-based national hotel point-of-sales solutions provider H&L Australia.
Mr Wyatt said OneTab helps boost credit card security.
"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.
Burt Admiraal, director of H&L Australia, said the OneTab concept was simple, effective and free.
"Using credit cards as security for bar tabs really does cause issues on both sides of the bar."
Mr Wyatt said, "OneTab takes physical handling of credit cards out of the equation so you can close your tab from anywhere without waiting for staff and puts an end to leaving your card behind.
"You approve all purchases added to your tab in real time and receipts can be sent directly to your email."
Mr Admiraal said South Australia was chosen for the launch to target the key "smartphone savvy" demographic.
There is a similar application available in the US called TabbedOut.
HOW IT WORKS
- Find your nearest OneTab venue. You can search manually or find the nearest venue based on location.
- Show your unique code to the bartender
- OneTab integrates with Facebook and Twitter so you can send a call out to friends directly from the app
WHERE IT WORKS
- Robin Hood Hotel, Norwood
- Curious Squire, North Adelaide
- Strathmore Hotel, North Tce
- Woodville Hotel, Woodville
- Maid and Magpie Hotel, Stepney
- The Colonist Tavern, Norwood.
- The Goodwood Hotel, Goodwood
- The Brompton Hotel, Brompton
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/south-australian-first-to-get-onetab-smartphone-app-to-pay-for-hotel-tab/story-e6frfro0-1226608019875#ixzz2OtYtanrJ
The ugly tan leather and stitching is still there, but Apple has a new feature for its Find My Friends app that users will find pretty useful. Apple just updated Find My Friends so that users can setup up geofences and receive a notification once a friend leaves a designated area.
Users have always been able to create location-based alerts, but Find My Friends 2.1 now lets users adjust the sensitivity of an alert by setting an exact distance threshold. The old system used a fixed zone that alerted you when someone was in your area, but now you can set your own radiuses to alert you about more specific things – like if a friend is in your neighborhood.
Parents will probably get the most out of Find My Friends as a tool to keep tabs on kids. But it can be useful when you’re out on the town with friends and want to know when people leave, or if your significant other is on the way over and you need to clean your place up in a hurry.
The free update is available in the App Store right now.
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