This article caught my eye on on Friday as waiting for my bill at a restaurant is one of my biggest pet peeves. Further DD showed good fundies and a decent chart. PAY recently tanked after missing revenue guidance, put recently pulled above it's 50 DMA and appears poised for an uptrend. A similar article has prominent placement in this week's Barron's, right on the week in Review / Preview page. From the AP article: Restaurants Test Table Card Readers Friday July 6, 1:29 pm ET By Greg Bluestein, Associated Press Writer Pay at the Table Companies Start Eyeing U.S. Restaurants ALPHARETTA, Ga. (AP) -- It's become routine for customers to swipe their credit or debit cards at consoles in fast-food joints, gas stations and grocery stores. So why do we still hand over the plastic at sit-down restaurants? Pay-at-the-table systems are popular in Europe and other parts of the world, but they haven't yet caught on in the U.S., largely because equipment makers haven't been able to point to a reason why restaurateurs should invest in the gear. Manufacturers now see an opportunity. A rise in the number of "skimming" scams in which waiters use hand-held computers to quietly record customers' credit card information and sell it is creating a sense of urgency. So is an increased push by managers to speed the flow of diners during peak hours. "Restaurants are the last holdout where you still give up your credit card. That's why we think this is the next logical step," said Paul Rasori, VeriFone Inc.'s vice president of marketing. Verifone's system, called the VX-670, is about the size of thick remote control and sports a square LCD screen and a numerical keypad. It accepts debit and credit cards and can automatically add the tip. Once the customer swipes a card, the information is sent wirelessly to a computer in the restaurant. A tiny printer spits out a receipt. I'll be taking an initial position Monday at the open.
I assume you aren't in the U.S.? Pay-at-the-table systems are popular in Europe and other parts of the world, but they haven't yet caught on in the U.S.
O.K., So nobody was enthralled with this pick, huh? Not a big mover, but up 5% in two weeks and most impressively, having a strong day today while the rest of the market is taking a big ol' dump. I'm adding on the way up.
What's all this about taking a dump on a restaurant table and then swiping it! Egads I'll say they do that in Europe! I've seen the movies... they do a lot of stuff with the buttocks area.... TD I've been slow to catch up on my reading so of course I am now over 5% behind you. My one thought is what's to stop someone from putting a card reader into the table machine and gathering a whole shitload of card numbers at one go? Lets be honest about the annoying restaurant thing- it's the asking for the bill that takes so long I harken back to a Larry David moment when he opens the restaurant with the bells! My granny had a sterling silver bell and she shook it to the high heavens at dinner time-shit got done. Wouldn't THAT be easier and less tech centric? Of course the noise factor and in a busy club who could hear the bells? That's why this PAY idea seems so right for the annoying bottle service clubs I hear about, the one's where they force you to but a 700% overpriced bottle of something just to sit down.. this is so embarrassing for everyone involved, perhaps it would be a lot easier to just order and pay yourself but think about it TD-- we don't need a swiping machine at the table-- we have to go high tech: touch screen and build it into the table itself! It won't be long before going out to eat is going to be like Minority Report: menus appear on the table and then with a wave of the hand you whisk away the menu and bring up the wine list, then you summon the waiter or waitress and give your order... or do you just type in your order yourself?... what then of the VERY important jobs of service in this economy? This could lead down a path that the unions would not like. At PJ Clarks in NY for as long as I can remember they have had you write down your own order with a pencil and pad and then you hand it to the senile old lady... little did they know that this little bit of self help would lead to this.... an investment opportunity for TopDown! Well I was one of the first investors in the whole self checkout fad at supermarkets, in fact I was a little too early- but THAT certainly made sense... I would think in noisy environments like Vegas this Pay idea would have a lot of merit... in a small rib joint in say N Carolina... well you're still going to have to sit back and wait and wait for your hot sauce! ~ stoney
Oh man it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was signing a terminal for bank card purchase and had to tap in my code and this endeavor at the restaurants they are all going to have to be touch screen for the menu and that means SYNA, a stock I already own! And one that is a 2007 Top Pick* Synaptics Incorporated engages in the development and supply of custom-designed user interface solutions that enable people to interact with various mobile computing, communications, entertainment, and other electronic devices worldwide. It targets the personal computer (PC) market and the market for digital lifestyle products, including portable digital music and video players, mobile phones, and other select electronic device markets with its customized interface solutions. The company provides custom interface solutions for navigation, cursor control, and multimedia controls for PC OEMs. In addition to notebooks, other PC applications for its technology include peripherals, such as keyboards, mice, and monitors, as well as desktop and PC remote control applications. The company's solutions for the PC market primarily include touchpad, a touch-sensitive pad that senses the position of a person's finger on its surface; touchstyk, an integrated pointing stick module; and dual pointing solutions, which combine both a touchpad and a pointing stick into a single notebook computer that enables the users to use the interface of their choice. Its custom solutions for digital lifestyle products include the scrollstrip and touchring, which are scrolling solutions that allow users to navigate through menus and content; lighttouch capacitive buttons, which provide illuminated button functionality; and mobiletouch, navpoint, and clearpad. The company provides interface solutions to major original equipment manufacturers of electronic devices. This friends is the way to play the Pay I say- hey hey. SYNA~ stoney
the technology sounds cool and i have heard of it however never seen it. sounds like something that will catch on in the future. from your posting it seems that you are going to be taking a position in this stock simp0ly because of an article. I would recommend that one thats for sure. look into the company, do your damn homework - then buy some. plus imho, if its in a magazine/newspaper wherever you found it, words already out about it.
Actually I appreciate his concern although it is not worthy of a reply. Sold this a.m. at 38.61 on a failure to hold the gap up. Looking to get back in on the pullback.