POS and Mobile Payments: A Perfect Fit
Mobile payments and POS systems have grown to be a worthy rival to traditional banking in the 21st century.
Payment processing has especially undergone radical changes in recent times due to the integration of mobile payments and point of service (POS) systems. Currently, the customer’s decision to purchase can be made and executed through their mobile phones, iPads, iPhones, smart watches, amongst others. Indeed, it is critical for POS systems used by traders to be compatible with these mobile interfaces to sustain competition. With the use of new payment technologies in the market, companies should be able to offer customers the flexibility of payment methods.
This delivers more value to shoppers and helps merchants in terms of reduced time in the checkout, low costs of processing, and consumer insights and analysis. It is crucial to continuously monitor the numerous developments in the payment industry to maintain a relevant customer experience that will evolve with customers' digital and mobile preferences. The right POS can enable payment acceptance to become a value-added service rather than a mere cost on the operations line.
The terms POS and mPOS are often used, and there seems to be an overlap between them. But what makes them different?
A conventional POS, or point of sale, is the specific electronic equipment and program that a vendor uses to accept and facilitate payment for goods at a physical store. An mPOS, or mobile point-of-sale system, is similar to a POS, performing the same tasks but through a smartphone, tablet, etc.
What Does The mPOS Payment Mean?
mPOS payment describes the transfer of payment from a customer to a merchant using a mobile point of sale terminal. This enables the use of cards with an assurance of the security of the internet and mobile data networks directly from a smartphone or tablet. Customers can swipe, dip, or insert their card through a swiping machine or scan a QR code to make payments seamlessly.
A mobile POS system is a portable device used for retail transactions, such as mobile sales, selling, and point-of-sale.
Therefore, a mobile POS system entails mobile devices such as handheld devices, touch-screen tablets, and wireless card readers that act as cash registers or payment devices. It enables merchants to accept payments and process orders from the comfort of their mobile devices connected to the internet through an application. Mobile POS systems also offer flexibility for selling products within the physical store and other areas.
POS machine is an acronym for Point of Sale machine and this is a computerized machine that is used in the processing of sales transactions.
A POS machine is an on-premises piece of equipment usually placed at merchants’ retail shops, restaurants, and other business establishments to accept cards, transmit transactions to the payment gateway, control inventory, track sales, report, and perform many other functions. Standard POS equipment includes a tablet, a touch screen, a receipt printer, a scanner, a card acceptor, and a cash drawer.
What Is An mPOS Machine?
An mPOS machine is a wireless terminal that can be moved from one location to the other and which can perform all the tasks of a normal POS machine. It consists of a portable wireless device such as a smartphone, tablet or a standalone wireless card reader. The transaction data is sent through Bluetooth, WiFi or cellular data connections to the payment gate. Due to the use of mPOS machines, merchants do not have to be bound to one location to operate their business.
Full Form Of Pos Is Points Of Sale
POS is an acronym for Point of Sale. It refers to the physical location where a product is sold or to the location of a particular store. It also refers to the technology employed to complete the transaction through payment processing, sales records, etc. However, POS was traditionally associated only with fixed cash registers installed at the point of sale, but it now encompasses mobile POS systems as well.
While POS is already a popular payment solution, mobile payments are still relatively young and require additional analyses to be performed in order to be implemented as a perfect match with POS.
The possibility of using POS solutions with convenience, security, and versatility is the perfect symbiosis with the growth of mobile wallet and touchless payments among customers. This brings about a symbiotic relationship that ensures the survival of retail businesses in the future as they also meet the needs of their clients with tech-savviness. Let's examine this trend and its implications in more detail:Let's examine this trend and its implications in more detail:
The meaning of the phrase “POS and mobile payments a perfect match” is that the two concepts of POS and mobile payments are very compatible or complementary.
This term has an implication on how various mobile POS systems harmonize with other mobile payment methods to afford faster, smarter and more convenient payments. Customers can make payments through their mobile devices by using QR codes to scan or by tapping contactless cards or linking wallet applications to their orders at point of sale. On the other hand, merchants receive the boost in sales that their businesses offer along with the freedom to operate from any point.
Can You Give An Example For The “POS And Mobile Payments A Perfect Match”?
For example, the business model of a food truck is a clear example of how POS, both mobile and payments, are integrated. The owner of the food truck takes orders and processes the payment through a tablet POS integrated with a wireless credit card terminal. Customers can use their contactless cards, or they can have a QR code that is connected to the POS system, so they can make the payment without using cash or other separate payment devices. This makes it easier to take orders and make payments on the go – something which is also in line with the ad-hoc nature of food trucks.
The Future is Mobile
Mobile payments coupled with POS systems thus offer retailers a basic toolkit to adapt in emerging markets where smartphone usage in purchasing is quickly gaining popularity. There is a clear trend towards contactless payments in particular – the volume of transactions in this segment will grow by 2023, reaching $1.97 trillion, according to Insider Intelligence.
Point-of-sale (POS) systems are changing with the newly found freedom of mobility and mobile commerce acceptance by the consumers as well as merchants. This means such things as built-in mobile payments, QR codes compatibility, and business solution deployment types like cloud and on-premises options. Mobile pos systems along with mobile payment solutions are a goldmine for those enterprises which understand that business is going mobile and is happening anywhere and at any time.
To continuously move with the trend, POS solutions should be compatible with mobile wallet solutions, QR code payments, NFC contactless payments and other future payment mechanisms. They must integrate with mobile platforms to provide an efficient, quick and easy payment process without the encumbrance of hardware. However, the infrastructure is no longer a problem in cloud-based POS, and merchants can easily grow while getting new features and security enhancements regularly. And with the customers increasingly expecting POS choice and freedom over where, when and how they shop & pay, POS evolution is crucial for all the enterprising organisations who are keen on proactively fuelling the mobile commerce at all the points. The future of POS is mobile, connected and frictionless payment with more focus on consumers’ needs than on existing constraints of merchants.
