Drake Software Offers Contactless Payments to Tax Professionals

Tax preparation software firm Drake Software launched a contactless payment acceptance system for tax professionals.

Drake Pay is “designed to meet the payment acceptance needs of the modern tax preparer for software integration, speed to payment from clients and security,” the company said in a news release Thursday (Jan. 25).

The automated tool uses Launchpay technology that meets the PCI Secure Software Standard, allowing Drake users to spend less time on administration and more energy on working toward their business goals, the release said.

Drake Pay also integrates with Drake Software and offers in-context billing and multiple options for contactless payment in-person or online.

“Most importantly, this solution from Drake Software will assist tax preparers in getting paid faster — typically two days,” the release said.

The ongoing rise of contactless payments was among 2023’s most notable payments trends, and that could pave the way for innovations that will transform commerce in the years to come.

PSCU Chief Growth Officer Brian Scott told PYMNTS in an interview posted in October that the stage was set a few years ago as financial institutions — and especially credit unions — began creating and issuing contactless cards at scale and teaching consumers how to use them.

The pandemic was pivotal in pushing people to consider ways to pay that didn’t involve handing their cards back and forth and potentially spreading a deadly virus. Scott told PYMNTS that consumers have offered a roadmap for what they want, and what they want is to have payments be simple and intuitive.

“Contactless payments have been incredibly impactful,” he said of the current environment, adding that “the consumers using contactless consistently are using cards more often as their primary payment device.”

More recently, the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Tapping Into the Future of Payments” examined this issue, noting that 85% of Generation Z and 82% of millennial consumers want to use contactless digital payments, leaving many small businesses scrambling to keep up.

“A worrying 27% are stuck in a traditional payments rut, highlighting a significant misstep with a key consumer trend,” the report said. “If businesses want to prosper, they must not only keep their fingers on the pulse of tomorrow’s shoppers but also adopt the digital payment methods they favor.”