iFood Macau to integrate payment methods

Lei Iam Leong, president of iFood Macau

A new system will combine all popular payment methods so that restaurateurs will not need as many payment consoles in the future, the executive of a Macau food order platform said yesterday.
The comment was made on the sidelines of the iFood Award Ceremony, held for the fourth time by the namesake company that provides restaurant listings and food order services, among other functions.
Currently, the private sector of Macau is dominated by mainland-based e-payment platforms, namely Alipay and WeChat Pay. However, this has posed challenges to tourists from other places where the two platforms are not commonplace.
“Previously, restaurants had to use different consoles for different payment platforms,” said Lei Iam Leong, president of iFood Macau, when asked about the problem.
Lei emphasized the inconvenience caused to the restaurants and advanced his company’s solution. “Our smart catering platform is capable of integrating all platforms, so that restaurants can operate all platforms with one single console,” he said.
Specific plans to integrate platforms or promote international platforms, such as Apple Pay and Android Pay, were not mentioned. Nonetheless, the executive stated that iFood would promote mobile payment and smart food-and-beverage services, as well as enhance financial services for the industry by collaborating with third-party service providers including Keruyun Inc. and Ant Financial.
The Fourth iFood Award Ceremony was held yesterday at the Macao Science Center’s Convention Hall. A total of 121 awards were given out to food and beverages outlets of all standards in Macau.
My Favorite Hotel Restaurant was awarded to Foodful Dating at IFU Hotel, Senkizen Japanese Restaurant, and Beverly Plaza Seafood Restaurant.
Dubbed by the organizer as the most anticipated awards, My Favorite Chinese Restaurant and My Favorite Portuguese Restaurant went respectively to Dim Sum Factory, Shanghai 4.5.6. Restaurant and Zhen Dim Sum for the Chinese Restaurant Category and O Manuel Portuguese Kitchen, Porto Portuguese Restaurant and Dumbo Portuguese Restaurant. AL