Phos, the fintech behind the first-ever software-only Point of Sale (SoftPoS), and Mastercard, the global payments leader, have today announced an expanded partnership to support Tap on Phone, the Mastercard solution that turns phones into payment acceptance devices. In doing so, the collaboration is lowering the barrier to entry for small and medium sized enterprises that want to offer contactless payments. 

By downloading Tap on Phone, SMEs can turn any near-field communications-enabled android mobile device into a PoS, accepting contactless payments from debit or credit cards, mobile wallets and wearables. Thanks to the phos SoftPoS, it removes the need for expensive hardware, often an obstacle for smaller merchants wanting to take more than just cash in payment. 

Mastercard has also raised the Card Holder Verification Limit (CVM), the amount merchants can accept for contactless transactions in over 80 markets, removing a further barrier to adoption and supporting retailers’ ability to offer a safe method of payment. This is critical to securing ongoing revenue at a time when 79 percent of consumers worldwide say they are now using contactless payments, citing safety and cleanliness as key drivers.¹

Data from phos shows that more than 33 million businesses across Europe are still reliant on cash, with concerns including the hidden costs, hardware requirements and security issues of traditional PoS. The android agnostic SoftPoS solution can provide a safe and sustainable alternative to cash and allow merchants to digitalise effectively, offer more payment options to their customers and ultimately grow their businesses.

Upon registering and once accepted, merchants can download Tap on Phone from the Google Play store and enable all of their Android devices to accept contactless payments.

Jason Lane, Executive Vice President, Market Development Europe at Mastercard, said: “One of the many ways in which we try to help small businesses at Mastercard is by enabling them to accept payments so that they are not limited to cash only transactions. This can help them improve their cashflows and benefit their bottom lines. Our partnership with phos not only fulfils this goal, but it also enables small businesses to provide their customers with contactless payment options via Tap on Phone thus meeting the strong consumer demand for contactless payments.”

Brad Hyett,  CEO of phos, added: “By extending our relationship with Mastercard, we’re combining its reach with our software to help merchants of all sizes transform their business rapidly. We all need to be able to adapt to changing environments, and with Tap on Phone, retailers can deploy new services that improve the customer experience and increase retention.”