French payments services firm Worldline has purchased a 55% stake in SoftPos, a Polish FinTech, the company announced Wednesday (Oct. 26).
Founded in 2019, Warsaw-based SoftPos offers technology that “converts regular Android devices into secure payment terminals,” helping merchants accept card payments with no need for added hardware, Worldline said in a news release.
The company said the deal will help it launch a number of partnerships, as well as a new product known as Worldline Tap on Mobile, an Android-based solution that lets merchants accept payments on smartphones, tablets, or enterprise devices through a single tap. The tool is designed to accept small amounts simply by tapping but can also approve larger purchases via PIN entry, said Worldline.
PYMNTS looked at SoftPOS — that is, the concept of “software point-of-sale,” not the Polish company — earlier this year, noting that it offered new opportunities for merchants who want to accept contactless payments but don't have the right technology.
Contactless payments employ a wireless data transfer method called Near Field Communication (NFC) to share information without an internet connection. It’s what lets card terminals read the chip on a debit or credit card, or accept payment from mobile wallets.
For mobile devices, NFC works in both directions, broadcasting NFC signals and reading NFC tags. SoftPOS, also known as tap-to-phone or tap-on-phone, takes advantage of this fact.
Read more: SoftPOS Drives EU Merchants’ Adoption of Contactless Payments
But while it’s an obvious convenience, SoftPOS is still mostly a niche payment method despite payment giants like Mastercard and Visa offering programs to help develop the technology.
Nevertheless, industry players have told PYMNTS they see the huge potential this technology presents for business growth.
“I am a firm believer in the development of SoftPOS solutions, which involves transforming a smartphone or a tablet into an acceptance solution, [because] it meets a lot of the requirements of merchants,” Frédéric Mazurier, chairman of Paris-based payment service provider Market Pay, told PYMNTS last year.
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