Contactless card payments are becoming the norm these days, but the technology still has room for improvement. Traditional terminals remain quite an investment for small businesses, and many SMEs simply cannot afford the splurge. However, soon, the bulky devices might become a thing of the past – Mastercard has just begun tests of the new SoftPOS technology, which in the future may help change the traditional POS terminals with smartphones.
SoftPOS is a solution which allows for contactless transactions to be conducted solely with the use of a smartphone, eliminating the need for an additional payment terminal– explains Kamila Kaliszyk, Vice President of Market Development at the Polish branch of Mastercard Europe.
You won’t need to travel too far for a taste of the innovation, as the technology giant in the payments area has decided to pick Poland for their initial testing ground. In collaboration with Polish ePayments, Mastercard has provided 50 Polish entrepreneurs with smartphones equipped with SoftPOS technology. This, however, will serve only as the initial phase of the tests – in June, 200 additional companies will get a chance to test out the payment method. By the third quarter of 2018, Mastercard is planning to expand the testing pool to 500 devices.
SoftPOS is a real revolution – thanks to the possibility of turning a smartphone into a payment terminal, micro and small entrepreneurs will gain access to the newest technologies in the field of e-payments, while simultaneously minimizing the costs of maintaining the device. The fear of new technologies should not pose a threat either, as we’re planning to provide each vendor with support including instructional materials, an introduction to using the app, as well as access to a special helpline in case of any additional queries – explains Jarosław Mikos, Chairman of the Board at Polish ePayments.
All of the participating entrepreneurs have been equipped with Samsung Galaxy S7 phones. The contactless payments solution developed by Mobeewave functions as a standard application, and enables contactless transactions without the need for any external hardware. Mastercard ensures that the convenience does not come at a price in security – their patented encryption technology guarantees that no personal information is saved on the smartphone at any point during the transaction.
Intrigued? If you’d like to hear more about the program, make sure to join us in Krakow on June 13th – 14th for Impact’18! With Mastercard as our event’s Strategic Partner, the event will be the place to get the scoop on the project’s further developments. Register today!
