Canadian point of sales giant Lightspeed Commerce has today launches its contactless payment solution, Lightspeed Payments, to tens of thousands of retail customers across Australia.

The system gives retailers the ability to process customer payments directly from their point-of-sale, which reduces double handling, risk of errors and administration.

Lightspeed had previously catered exclusively to the hospitality industry. This move into the highly-competitive retail POS space comes at a period where Australia’s payments market is fragmented, according to the company.

“The Australian payments space has failed to put the customer in the centre of the experience,” said Gordana Redzovski, VP Retail APAC at Lightspeed Australia.

“We’re thrilled to expand Lightspeed’s robust payments offering into this region to meet the financial services needs of our merchants.

“Business owners are after a seamless experience and we are equipping our hospitality venues and retail business owners with the right tools to be successful, and ultimately provide a superior check out or payment experience to their customers.”

Jona Georgiou, General Manager for Payments and Financial Services, Lightspeed, said the global launch of Lightspeed Payments has generated tremendous traction within brick-and-mortar retail.

“Our integrated system allows owners to run their businesses without having to worry about manual errors and excessive admin. This launch is an important move for us to provide the best all-in-one solution for hospitality and retail businesses.”

Lightspeed’s internal data shows Australians spend more in cashless venues.

The average transaction value of cash payments in Lightspeed hospitality venues in April 2022 was $18, compared to non-cash payments, which averaged $27.

Card transactions now make up over 80 per cent of total transactions for Australian retailers.