BBPOS Says It’s Time To Move Past mPOS
As the U.S. continues to embrace EMV (though slowly compared to other nations), technology, especially mPOS, is moving commerce beyond chip cards and PINs… Read More
As the U.S. continues to embrace EMV (though slowly compared to other nations), technology, especially mPOS, is moving commerce beyond chip cards and PINs… Read More
As the U.S. continues to embrace EMV (though slowly compared
to other nations), technology, especially mPOS, is moving commerce beyond chip
cards and PINs.
In an interview with PYMNTS, Alex Choi, chairman of BBPOS,
stated that, in the transition to EMV, “the United States has done a lot of
work,” but that more work remains to be done. The key trend that is underway
and must accelerate is one where consumer behavior itself must change. This is
true, especially in the United States, he added, where consumers, newly being
introduced to mPOS and EMV, “are not used to waiting for their transactions”
to be completed, as has been common for chip cards. And, for smaller
merchants, he added, there’s been initial hesitation with committing to the
new equipment but, with smaller formats (and, in some cases, smaller
transactions in terms of value), becomes a clearer choice, especially as the
use of digital transactions in lieu of actual cash grows.
In a recent example of BBPOS’ push into the smaller merchant
client base, the company last month signed an agreement with Smart Card
Marketing Systems, through which the companies integrate EMV, Bluetooth and
NFC devices, which should have allure for smaller merchants, keeping client
banks, telecoms or merchants from having to build out more hardware ecosystems
to manage transactions. In essence, the function is app-enabled, and the
transaction is done with the push of a button. Smart devices operate on both
ends of the transaction, at both the merchant and the consumer points, said
Choi.
Separately, Ben Lo, founder and chief technology officer, told
PYMNTS that beyond mPOS, the Smart Card relationship demonstrates that, for
adjacent payments interactions, there is not necessarily the need to “study
software development kits and communicating with payment processors or the
acquiring bank.”
And one place where device integration is looking bright in
other areas cited by both BBPOS executives: next-generation vending machines.
Speaking of one company in the space, Lo said that turnkey solutions, such as
the Smart Card one, has appeal. “The vending market,” added Choi, “is one that
holds a lot of promise but is also one that is waiting for the right
solution.” One key impetus for device integration will continue to be the
digital transformation mentioned above; as Lo noted, phones and other smart
devices are recognized as becoming more secure than plastic cards in the sense
that they involve “at least one more form of authentication, whether it is a
fingerprint or PIN.”
Source: http://www.pymnts.com/news/mobile-commerce/2016/bbpos-says-
its-time-to-move-past-mpos/