Have you ever had a young person enter your store after school and pick up two handfuls of snacks and drinks and walk up to your register and after looking at the counter ask “Do you accept Apple Pay?" Were you a business owner who said ‘No’? Were you surprised when they set their items down and walked out? It’s likely you may have been at some point. In fact, more than 1 in 10 millennials pay digitally with their smartphones. Here we will speak about mPOS - Mobile Point of Sale and why it’s beneficial.

What is mPOS?

mPOS (Mobile Point of Sale) is exactly what it sounds like. It is an option for users to make payments with their smartphone with NFC capabilities. Typically, businesses that offer this payment option will have an NFC image above the payment terminal or POS Station. This typically appears in the form of a Wifi signal. When present, customers will be aware they can pay with an NFC capable device (most smartphones). The user simply has to have their debit or credit card already registered with their payment provider.

How Does it a mPOS Work?

The most common providers are Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Apple Pay. When the user has their debit card registered, they can simply tap their phone above the terminal and a signal will be sent to their bank which will allow the payment to be processed. Users may set up as many cards as they want to use for their payments and may even select the card they want to pay with at the time of purchase. This form of payment is actually quicker than inserting the debit/credit card into the payment terminal. In most cases, no pin number is required and the payment is processed as credit. You will receive the funds in the same timeframe as you would with your merchant service provider.

Safety

Many users find this to be a safer form of payment. The customers who don’t feel comfortable keying their pin number on anything other than their primary institution’s ATM won’t have to worry about that. In fact, Samsung Pay uses an alternate card number when you tap to pay at a terminal. Hence, if a retailer’s network is compromised and card information becomes available to hackers, the card number used at your store will not match their actual card number. This will ensure criminals will not have the correct card number to reuse. Excellent safety protocols indeed.

Convenience to customers

Time is money. Having a long line of people who are waiting to pay can result in a loss of business. I know that I will not stand in a line with more than 3 people myself. Obviously, not everyone thinks this way, but time is important to most people. Let’s refer back to the example at the beginning of this article. It turns out that the young man who walked out of the store empty-handed did NOT have his wallet. He forgot it at home. What he DID have, however, was his phone as that’s something he takes everywhere. Not having this additional payment option can cost businesses thousands of dollars in missed revenue each year.

Convenience for Business

What about your convenience as a small business owner?

1. Shorter wait times. At some point, you’ve experienced a line of people waiting to make their purchase and you may have had someone at the front of the line digging through their purse or wallet searching for bills since you only accept cash. A mPOS will decrease wait times as many people will use the system and have their payments processed quicker.

2. More payment stations. Now you’ll be able to set up virtual cashiers or self-checkout stations. This saves money on paying someone to run a cash register. You also have more time to focus on things you may need to do such as restocking shelves, review inventory, etc.

3. No lost business. According to an article on Chopolo, when a survey was conducted, 6 out of 10 people lose their wallet or forget it at home when they go out. That’s over 60% of people. Now if you offer mPOS - Mobile Point of Sale and the consumer has their card(s) registered, they can still make their purchase(s). No lost revenue there.

Even if you’re not a store owner, having a mobile point of sale payment option will increase your options for payment and will keep business flowing. Think of it from a consumer’s standpoint. How would YOU feel walking into your place of business and being limited on the lack of payment options available to you?

Focal Points

Having a Mobile Point of Sale system works in everyone’s favor. You can save time and money and use that on other important matters. This is an option that keeps your customers feeling safer and ensures you still get paid. If there are insufficient funds on the card at the time of purchase the card will decline. This option is great as it ensures you only benefit, no risk of losing money such as you can with a bad check or fake bill someone made their purchase with.

If you don’t currently have a Mobile Point of Sale system, it is strongly recommended that you review the points in this article and purchase one. Start taking advantage of the additional benefits. To learn more about different POS options, visit us here at CloudSwipe.