According to the New York Times, New York City is expecting more than 59 million visitors this year from all over the globe. Among those numbers are an estimated 920,000 visitors from China — which is fitting since 2016 has been declared “U.S.-China Tourism Year. China sits solidly in fourth position for the number of visitors to NYC each year (led by England, Canada, and Brazil).
It’s a great time for restaurant owners of New York City to ask whether their payment acceptance can enable international visitors from China to dine and pay.
“One of the simple, but sometimes overlooked, strategies to welcome more patrons is ensuring your restaurant has broad payment acceptance,” said Joe Hurley, Senior Vice President of Global Business Development at Discover. “Businesses that accept multiple credit cards can open their doors to a wider group of customers, and can also count international tourists in their clientele through Discover Global Network acceptance.”
Tourists coming to New York City from countries around the world are often armed with their locally-issued credit card, which might offer rewards or other benefits they want to take advantage of when they travel overseas. When it comes to visitors from China, more than 900,000 potential patrons are looking for the ultimate New York City experience and the convenience that comes with using the credit card they carry every day. That’s why it’s imperative that local restaurateurs understand the value of catering to these valued international visitors.
The strength of your network
“One of the primary benefits of accepting Discover Global Network is gaining access to cardholders from countries around the world, such as Elo cardholders from Brazil, UnionPay cardholders from China, RuPay cardholders from India, BCcard from South Korea, and many more,” Hurley said. “In fact, two-thirds of cardholders look for Discover signage when they shop and pay, so catering to these cardholders can expand your customer base and make their New York City experience more enjoyable.”
As a restaurateur in New York City, you’re something of a gateway to an authentic Big Apple experience. Not only do tourists look for appealing cuisine, but also an opportunity to rest over a meal between their excursions. There’s a reason international tourists flock to New York City nonstop year-round — because this city offers a particularly delightful and quirky combination of people and places.
As a restaurateur, it’s worth noting that broad payment acceptance means you can take payments from a wide group of patrons. Check with your acquirer or payment processor to ensure that you can accept credit cards from top countries of origin such as China and Brazil. Also, inquire if you can enable customers to pay with contactless methods, such as major mobile wallets, which are chip-grade transactions due to the use of tokenization, which replaces customer account numbers with tokens instead, making counterfeit fraud more difficult.
The importance of acceptance signage
Another key strategy to welcome customers is displaying signage to let cardholders know that you accept their preferred method of payment.
Discover Global Network makes it easy to greet these customers — restaurant owners simply can log into the Discover Global Network Signage Portal online and get free signage, from window decals to website/app acceptance marks to point-of-sale terminal signage.
2 Embassy of the United States, China-Beijing
3 TNS, Global Merchant Card Acceptance/Forrester Research Online Omnibus Survey (2014)
