SmartPOS & SoftPOS: Transforming Payments

In my last Expert View, I pointed out that only payment terminals are increasingly substituted into multi-use SmartPOS terminals. That transition is driven by industries like hospitality (restaurants, bars, and hotels), travel and entertainment, and luxury, which combine a better user experience with faster and less-effort processes. This applies mostly to lean front-end applications such as a register SW running on the (Android) SmartPOS parallel to payment.

SoftPOS as a Payment Solution

Those new Android SmartPOS devices are still proprietary HW payment devices with all functionalities on board (HW security, Chip&PIN, Printer), but a new trend is cannibalizing their market adoption. SoftPOS is a trend worldwide, but also in Central European countries with high (local) certifications where normal Android mobile phones can accept NFC Payments via a certified App.

Due to the high adoption of NFC payments globally, the need for (EMV) Chip&PIN is also negligible as the receipt printing. As the average receipt size is rather small, the receipt may not be mandatory, as it comes into higher volumes or tax-relevant receipts. A QR code with the virtual receipt could be provided or sent to the customer’s e-mail address.

The SoftPOS adoption may occupy a relevant portion of the…