January 2016 Innovation Grows Where Mpos Goes
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
JANUARY 2016 INNOVATION GROWS WHERE MPOS GOES The mPOS market in America alone is expected to grow at a CAGR of 51% during the forecast period 2016-2020. That’s largely contingent on prolific growth in the number of mobile phones and the payment methods it enables. However, the length and breadth of mPOS’ potential can be reached only if hardware innovation keeps up with software applications. Mobile point of sale is essential for growing micro- merchants, but the technology isn’t always accessible to them. Verifone’s latest platform could be a case in point to take innovation further and make it accessible where it matters. Erik Vlugt, VP of Global Products at Verifone, recently discussed with MPD CEO Karen Webster how Verifone plans to change the space with the recent release of its new e265 mPOS platform. e265 marks “a continued investment on Verifone’s part in mobile POS in general,” Vlugt said, calling it “one more product in our digital line.” “We are committed to the wonderful world of mPOS -- and that’s not going to change; we see huge growth there globally,” Vlugt added. In this particular case, as Vlugt explained, the e265 is based on a proven platform called the e355, which has been very successful with larger retailers in the market, especially in the integrated space. “We are now taking a lot of those same benefits and features to smaller segments as well,” said Vlugt. “The smaller segments typically have a Verifone payment terminal, which has served them well over time, but in some cases these merchants want to add more functionality to overall customer engagement including things they’re doing on tablets and handheld devices.” These sorts of engagement activities may include loyalty, other commerce applications, things with price checking and so on. “It allows them to do a lot of things that typically live on a tablet or phone, but still need that secure payment.” “Before,” he explained, “they had the option to forego the tablet or the smart device or go with a simple payment plug-in dongle. [The e265] now allows them to go a step further, they don’t have to worry about the audio jack, the OS compatibility. This device communicates with the smart device over Bluetooth. Its design supports Windows, supports Android, supports iOS, so it can work across devices.” What’s more, adds Vlugt, is the device is built to be super durable and supports all the global security standards including EMV, NFC, contactless and mag stripe. “What you end up with is a more capable, more robust mobile solution that still gives them everything they want to do with a smart device, but layers in full functionality and security on the payment side,” he remarked. INNOVATION GROWS WHERE MPOS GOES (CON’T) While many in the industry tend to lump the “micro merchant” into a single category — from the person selling jam at the local farmer’s market, to the small business that is truly a full- time business — it seems this solution from Verifone is for a smaller merchant who wants to have the full capability of the big merchants as they grow. The mPOS space, which started with a dongle and a phone, is quickly becoming about mobile capability far beyond mobile payments. Vlugt agreed that the market is evolving as is the need to create a solution for small merchants that may be in places that are hard to reach; they have a legacy of only accepting cash in the past. It’s a game changer for these types of small growing businesses enhancing their ability to do business, to accept payments, and grow. And this is a trend that Verifone is seeing play out on a global scale. Vlugt commented that the mPOS industry will continue to grow across the verticals and across the globe in 2016, noting a lot of interest in Europe and Latin America where micro-merchants are using the platform to “pull themselves up by the bootstraps.” “I see it happening in integrated retail,” he goes on to say, “where the e355, the big brother to this product plays, where merchants are continually investing and going mobile so they can deal with their consumers differently.” In conclusion, Vlugt observed, “we’re seeing very positive momentum from mobile around the globe, across our product line. Whether that’s in the U.S. in the integrated space or in Latin America were a micro-merchant is becoming a small merchant with the help of this product.” As payments get easier and seamless, merchants will be required to process a large amount of data and require it to be compatible with their mPOS device, making it necessary to ensure that the devices speak to many and varied applications. Making something easy is never a one-way street. AROUND THE WORLD OF MPOS – JANUARY HIGHLIGHTS Mobile point of sale over the last year has seen a tremendous increase in terms of new players entering the market and the differentiation they bring with their products and solutions. Infiniti Research Limited released its Global mPOS Market 2016-2020 report on the current state of the industry and forecast market growth. The mPOS market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 50 percent, mostly driven by demand. The ability of mPOS to accept card payments regardless of location or sales point has captured the interest of businesses and will lead to growing usage of cloud-based solutions which will fuel the mPOS market during the forecast period. The retail sector in the Americas is the one with the most mPOS usage and the market is characterized by leading companies, however the report expects greater competition as new developers come to the market and SMEs are acquired by larger players. The mPOS tracker features the latest innovation by players in the industry. Infinite Peripherals introduced the Infinea mPOS and Infinea mPOS Flat, which the company is billing as all-in-one solutions for the iPhone 5 and iPod touch, and TouchBistro will be launching its new iPad app, TouchBistro 7.0, that is compatible with new iPad Pro. Another company in the directory, Paynear, raised $2.5 million from investor Mitesh Majithia. The company is looking to raise $10 million in a Series A round. The funding will go toward the company´s goals of expansion, increasing technical capabilities and sales growth. January Tracker Updates We added five new players to the mPOS tracker family: FreshBooks, Granbury Solutions, Monetico Mobile, Pax Technology and PayWithIt. Profiles of 13 existing players were updated based on partnerships and other announcements. Verifone, Infinite Peripherals, TouchBistro and Smartpesa’s scores changed after updating each company’s respective profile to add payment methods. Miura Shuttle’s score changed after updating its profile to add geographies. Creditcall Ezetap, goSwiff, Mint Payments, Moka, Payleven, Paynear, SureSwipe and Smartpesa were updated to reflect the new things that they are doing. 4 UPDATES FROM AROUND THE MPOS UNIVERSE NEW PLAYER ADDITIONS Cloud accounting company FreshBooks announced its plans to venture into mobile payments with the launch of a Square Reader-like device by spring 2016. It will be pocket-sized and will fit into the audio jack of any smartphone to accept EMV-enabled cards. The company will use its background in cloud accounting to back its POS device, offering real-time transaction updates and allowing merchants to accept payments from their customers online. PAX is a manufacturer of secure electronic point of sale (POS and MPOS) terminals, with more than 5 million devices deployed in over 80 countries worldwide. It has a long-term strategy focused around EMV, PCI, and contactless. Its headquarters are in Shenzhen (China), and sales offices are in USA, U.K., Hong Kong and Brazil. 5 20 Desjardins Group is the leading cooperative financial group in Canada and the fifth largest cooperative financial group in the world with assets of close to $251 billion. Desjardins now offers two new mobile payment solutions: Monetico Mobile and Monetico Mobile +. These solutions are easy to use, affordable and secure. They allow customers to pay with their credit or debit card thanks to a keypad connected via Bluetooth to a smartphone or tablet using the Monetico Mobile app (iOS or Android). From point of sale to enterprise management, online ordering to restaurant marketing, Granbury Restaurant Solutions (GRS) has brought together experienced industry leaders to provide its customers with end-to-end technology solutions and superior service. Thr!ve POS features include a graphical ordering system, phone order and delivery management, access to detailed customer information, back office management solutions, labor management and inventory tracking. PayWithIt secure mobile payment acceptance solution for merchants who would like to accept credit cards, signature debit, and ACH on the go. Available through popular mobile devices, merchants can securely and wirelessly capture payments via encrypted card swipe. 6 UPDATES FROM AROUND THE MPOS UNIVERSE UPDATES FROM EXISTING PLAYERS Creditcall won PCI P2PE compliance for its ChipDNA solution. ChipDNA is an omnichannel, EMV- ready payment gateway solution, aimed at Web and app developers and can be integrated into Android and iOS based mobile POS (mPOS) payment solutions, as well as Windows and Linux semi-integrated environments. State Bank of India (SBI) selected Ezetap to boost e-payments and sales at the Grand Kerala Shopping Festival (GKSF). SBI promoted the waive of monthly fees for three months for registered Ezetap merchants. 20,000 shops were registered as of the first week of the festival. GoSwiff has been selected by Qatar-based telecommunications provider Ooredoo Group to provide mobile point-of-sale services, mobile money and airtime top-up services.