On your next visit to T.G.I. Friday's for dinner and drinks, you won't have to bother reaching for your wallet. Instead, you can pay your tab with your iPhone or Android device.
The restaurant chain released a new application for iPhone and Android that lets customers start a tab, keep track of their bill, and pay it right from their phone. Currently, 350 of the chain's 600 locations nationwide are now accepting the new mobile payment method. Users can download the app now from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
"This new app puts the Friday experience at guests' fingertips â€" whether they're looking for the closest Friday's to celebrate and indulge or if they want to pay their bar tab quickly," Ricky Richardson, chief operating officer at T.G.I. Friday's, said in a statement.
The app's payment functionality is powered by a platform called Tabbedout, which launched earlier this year at SXSW in Austin, Texas. The app automatically integrates with Friday's point of sale software, allowing customers to pay their bill without the need for additional hardware.
Paying with the app seems fairly straightforward. When a user opens a tab within the app, they are presented with a five-digit code to show their server. The serer then enters the code on the restaurant's point-of-sale system, and then the order proceeds just like usual.
When ready to leave, a user can enter a tip, and pay with a credit card saved inside the app. The app is programmed to suggest an 18 percent tip, but users can increase or decrease the tip as they like.
The app also lets users find Friday's locations, view the food and drink menu, as well as drink specials and promotions. Friday's is the first national dining chain to support mobile payments.
"The launch of the T.G.I. Friday's app is only the beginning for us in this realm," Richardson said."We look forward to continuing to enhance the digital experience and new mobile app with more functionalities to come."
With well-known brands like Friday's getting on board, mobile payments could see widespread adoption in the coming years. Sixty-five percent of experts think most people will fully adopt mobile payments by 2020, nearly eliminating the need for cash or credit cards, according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center.
However, a separate survey from the University of California, Berkeley indicates that most Americans aren't ready for the new technology just yet. In the study of 1,203 U.S. adult Internet users, 74 percent said that they do not plan on adopting a mobile payment service.
For more on mobile payments, see the PCMag's reviews of Google Wallet and Square, as well as Hands Off With the PayPal Here.
For more from Angela, follow her on Twitter @amoscaritolo.
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