Why There’s Never Been a Better Time to Start Using Mobile Receipt Recognition
The continued threat of the coronavirus has forced small businesses and global conglomerates to rethink their processes. In May, Facebook and Google announced that they will be extending compulsory working from home policy until the end of the year.
In March this year, South Korea’s central bank said that it was taking all banknotes out of circulation for two weeks and even burning stockpiles of cash to reduce the spread of the virus, according to leading news outlet, Reuters. This follows China’s huge initiative of attempting to detect the virus using ultraviolet light and then burning banknotes that could have traces of the coronavirus.
What does this mean? Mobile and contactless payments from Apple Pay or Google Pay may become the POS consumer choice of the future to make transactions. The lack of trust in the cleanliness of paper banknotes and debit or credit cards also means that digital receipt recognition platforms are likely to become coveted whilst the world continues to fight the coronavirus – and likely for long after the virus has been beat.
China Is on Its Way to Becoming a Paperless Society
Before the outbreak of the coronavirus, China was already on its way to becoming a paperless society. According to eMarketer, nearly 50% of all China’s population used mobile payments to make purchases in the second quarter of 2019.
QR code payment platforms, such as WeChat and AliPay have proven to be highly popular payment solution providers. With the epicentre of the coronavirus being in Wulan, it came as little surprise to anyone when China announced that they will be bolstering their commitment to mobile payments to avoid any unnecessary interaction with paper money.
Microorganisms Do Live on Banknotes and Other Paper Surfaces
We all know that shaking hands is no longer advised, frequently washing hands and disinfecting surfaces is necessary, but how many of us have thought about washing our hands after we touch banknotes?
According to a 2017 study conducted in New York City, microorganisms live on the surface of banknotes. The World Health Organization (WHO) has long recommended washing hands after handling money, especially before eating food. With the whole world affected by the coronavirus pandemic, keeping yourself, your loved ones and health services protected during this trying time is paramount.
If you routinely handle receipts, minimising contact between the surface area and your skin will minimise cross infection. So, using expense data extraction (EDE) software to capture receipt data is good practice. Though it won’t nullify your chances of contracting the coronavirus, it is another way of reducing interactions with people and surfaces that may carry the virus.
The Value of Receipt Recognition Software in the Coronavirus Pandemic
We’re living in unprecedented times; caution must be exercised. All measures to stem the infection rate should be employed. If we can limit individual interaction with paper and money, surely such measures should be taken, right?
There’s no better means of limiting personal contact with money during an epidemic than using mobile payment methods and expense management platforms with use expense data extraction (EDE).
Think about it this way. You only need to handle receipts once. Just take a picture of the receipt and wait as AI-driven, intelligent data capture extracts data line-by-line from any POS receipt in the world.
As the world’s foremost receipt recognition software, Tabscanner features a simple and robust API, and delivers 98% accuracy on all core data. Not only that, you can extract accurate data from any language and character set in the world. If you want to stave off any lingering threat of coronavirus infection from handling receipts, you should think about using a mobile device equipped with Tabscanner’s software!
If you’ve been putting off using OCR mobile receipt recognition, perhaps now’s the time to start using the software. Is it the ultimate answer to helping businesses control the threat of coronavirus from infecting their employees? Of course not. But it makes managing your receipts infinitely safer.
Has there ever been a better time to start using mobile receipt recognition?