Restaurant Tech Startup TableSafe Raises $5 Million for Its Pay-at-the-Table Device

Pay without ever losing sight of your credit card

A Washington State-based tech startup wants to give restaurant patrons the power to pay the bill at their leisure: TableSafe just snagged another $5 million in funding, reports the Seattle Times. That brings the company's total funding to $25 million.

The company is behind a device called Rail, which looks like a traditional check holder but enables customers to swipe their own credit card and pay the bill at their table. As the Times explains, "The idea is to make things easier for busy restaurant staff and make customers feel secure because their card never leaves their sight." TableSafe is preparing to launch a second version of the device which is enabled with the chip-card technology that's now being implemented at merchants across the country, and NFC, which will allow patrons to use Apple Pay from their mobile device.

The Rail device is currently used in only about a dozen restaurants, but "plans to expand significantly when the new device launches within the next couple of months." Restaurants in Europe have used hand-held credit card reading devices for over a decade so diners don't have to let their cards out of their sight — is this technology finally destined to catch on in the U.S.?

Watch how Rail works, below:

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