Watch how Mastercard, Axis Bank & Worldline are helping convert smartphones into POS devices

Mastercard's Rajeev Kumar, Worldline's Deepak Chandani and Axis Bank's Sanjeev Moghe talk to YourStory Business Editor, Vishal Krishna, about Soft POS - an app that enables merchants to accept contactless payments by turning their smartphones into POS devices.

The launch of Soft POS by Mastercard, Axis Bank and Worldline couldn’t have happened at a better time. The world continues to reel with the ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and businesses are scurrying for innovative solutions to enable contactless services. A payment solution that is contactless, secure and cost-effective is the perfect combination for carrying out retail transactions in the current environment and the Soft POS app does just that.

“The Soft POS is a merchant-facing app, which transforms your everyday smartphone into a POS (point of sale) terminal. It brings on board the merchant digitally and they can offer multiple payment modes to their customers such as tap on phone, contactless, among others. This is a cost-effective card and digital acceptance solution focused on SMEs,” Rajeev Kumar, Senior Vice-President, Market Development, South Asia at Mastercard, tells YourStory’s Vishal Krishna.

Mastercard launched the Soft POS in partnership with Axis Bank and Worldline last month, and it offers tap-on-phone and other value-added services functionalities such as cash register, e-khata, online dukkan and Zoho Business Solutions.

Speaking on the scope of reach of the app and its security features, Deepak Chandani, Managing Director, Worldline South Asia and Middle East, says the current POS ecosystem has about 5 million users, while those of smartphones enabled with NFC (near field communication) technology are about 30 percent of its 400 million users. “And, with soft POS, security features are strong as the phone stores no card details, no pin, chip or magnetic stripe details, preventing the scope of leakages,” says Deepak.

Sanjeev Moghe, Executive Vice President & Head- Cards & Payments at Axis Bank, highlights the cost-effectiveness of the app, as merchants will not have to opt for physical, bulky POS devices, as they  have an affordable alternative to opt with the soft POS.