With currency notes of lower denominations in great demand in the wake of recent demonetisation, a city-based hair dresser has extended an e-payment option for customers.
Twenty-nine-year-old A. Ravichandran who runs an air-conditioned hair spa in the dense residential locality of K.K. Nagar has been accepting credit and debit card payments for services such as hair dressing, facial and hair dye.
He has advertised the e-payment option to customers by pasting a notice in front of his outlet informing them that credit and debit card payments were accepted.
Though beauty salon chains allow card payments in the city, not many individual hair dressers have the option. Little did Mr. Ravichandran know that the Electronic Data Capture machine also known as card swipe machine which he obtained from a private bank during the Deepavali festival would come in handy for customers when the demonetisation announcement was made.
The card payment option seems to have worked as few of his customers have already availed this facility in the wake of the heavy demand for currencies of lower denominations.
He charges Rs. 100 for hair cutting; Rs. 150 for hair cutting and shaving; Rs. 450 for hair dye and Rs. 1,000 for facial.
The card payment option has been used by around 15 customers so far although cash payment continues to be the main mode, says Mr. Ravichandran, who has studied up to tenth standard and is a native of Thuraiyur.
According to him, as some of his regular customers didn’t have the requisite change he had asked them to pay later.
“Majority of my customers come with either money or card”, says Mr. Ravichandran who maintains a current account in the private bank which supplied the machine.
He pays Rs. 650 per month to the bank for the card swipe machine.
The money goes directly into the account once the card is swiped, he says adding that the card payment option was a new experience for him. “I collect the amount the next day,” he added.
Business peaks on Saturdays and Sundays and during the wedding season when many come for facial as well, says Mr.Ravichandran.
