Finance:SoftPOS
SoftPOS refers to the terms “software point-of-sale” or “tap-to-phone technology”. It is an application software that enables a merchant to use their smartphone to accept payments as opposed to using a physical point-of-sale (POS) terminal. The specific SoftPOS payment application chosen by the merchant can be installed on a smartphone, which supports the NFC (Near-Field Communication) functionality. Most Android smartphones with a version 7.0 and higher and iOS[1] phones with an integrated NFC chip can run the application to enable merchants to accept payments, which can be in the form of contactless[2] prepaid, debit or credit cards, in the form of QR code payments, digital wallets or other NFC wearables.
History
In January 2018, the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council (SSC) announced a new PCI Security Standard[3] for software-based PIN entry on commercial off-the-shelf devices (COTS), such as smartphones and tablets.
Since then, several providers have taken up the new opportunity to offer SoftPOS solutions including, but not limited to:
- JoinPAY
- myPOS Glass[4]
- MeaPay
- Phos
- Samsung
- PayCore[5]
- MagicCube
- Quest Payment Systems
- tapXphone
Industries
SoftPOS solutions[6] are well-suited for nano, small and medium-size organisations including:
- Freelancers
- Delivery couriers
- Food trucks
- Independent consultants
- Open and seasonal markets
- Professionals on the go
Benefits
- No hardware required - SoftPOS eliminates the need for additional hardware to enable merchants to accept payments. There is no need for cables or dongles, only the merchant's smartphone.
- Caters to multiple contactless payments[7] - SoftPOS solutions enable customers to make contactless payments on a merchant's smartphone.
- Bank agnostic - SoftPOS also works with all acquirers and does not discriminate between them, which means that the solution is bank agnostic.
- Phone agnostic - The merchant's smartphone can be Android or iOS-powered.
- Increased safety - Since SoftPOS complies with PCI DSS standards and no cardholder data is stored on the merchant's phone, it is considered a safe payment solution.
- Value-added features - Some value-added features are included with software Point-of-Sale[8] solutions such as Cash register mode to help with adding, syncing and showcasing products directly from the phone; multiple payment options such as payments made by cash/card or both and more.
References
- ↑ Pietrzak, Piotr. "SoftPOS - revolution in payments" (in en). https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/apple-starts-revolution-payments-softpos-what-piotr-pietrzak.
- ↑ Covello, Len. "Covid-19 Pandemic and contactless payments" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/04/15/how-the-pandemic-made-contactless-payments-the-new-normal/.
- ↑ Gray, Laura K.. "PCI SSC - New software-based PIN entry" (in en). https://blog.pcisecuritystandards.org/new-pci-software-pin-entry-on-cots-standard.
- ↑ Stefanova, Irina. "SoftPOS app turns smartphones into payment terminals" (in en). https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201029005850/en/myPOS-Turns-Smartphones-Into-POS-Terminals.
- ↑ "Turkish firm develops softPOS app" (in en). https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/npci-onboards-turkish-firm-paycore-to-develop-softpos-solutions-for-rupay-121052400566_1.html.
- ↑ Drouard, François. "An introduction to softPOS" (in en). https://financialit.net/blog/payments/what-softpos.
- ↑ "Contactless payments - Global highlights" (in en). https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/global/pay-with-visa/documents/vsa215-02-contactless.pdf.
- ↑ Liu, Shanhong. "Software Point-of-Sale market revenue" (in en). https://www.statista.com/statistics/1086974/worldwide-point-of-sale-software-market-revenue/.
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