Robo-barmaid pours pint at touch of credit card
THE world’s first commercial pay-and-go beer dispenser is set to slash queues at the bar.
It lets drinkers order a pint from a touch screen, tap their contactless card at the pay point and walk away with their tipple in under 60 seconds.
The prototype Pay@Pump machine, designed for Barclaycard, is being tested at a bar in Central London.
If successful, it will be used next year at busy music events such as British Summer Time Hyde Park.
The arrival of the device comes as research reveals it can take up to 12 minutes to get served at a busy bar. The same survey found one in five people have at some time given up waiting and gone elsewhere.
One in three confessed to trying to jump the queue with a smile or cheeky chat-up, one in five try to attract attention by frantically waving cash and one in four get a friend to add extra drinks to their order. Barclaycard’s Tami Hargreaves said: “I’m sure everyone has been stuck behind a person who orders the most complicated cocktail on the menu or a round of 10 drinks for their group of friends. “When people told us that waiting time was one of their biggest annoyances, we wanted to help solve a common problem with a simple solution. “This could easily be the answer and a win-win for both bars and bar-goers.” BARCLAYCARD may have the first commercial pay-and-go machine but landlord Dave Barron introduced a home-made one at the Queen’s Head in Hoyland, near Barnsley, South Yorks, five years ago. The prototype cost £200, used pre-paid cards and dispensed beer 10p cheaper than the bar.