Microsoft Pushes Into Mobile Payments With New Partnerships
Microsoft’s push into mobile payments is moving forward thanks to new partnerships in its Deigned for Surface effort unveiled at the National Retail Federation’s annual conference. AnywhereCommerce has joined the Designed for Surface third-party development program, and Microsoft Surface director Cyril Belikoff says the alliance will enable merchants to leverage “a suite of secure and flexible mobile point of sale (mPOS) solutions that are integrated into a single Surface solution for their stores.” Meanwhile, MagTek will collaborate with Microsoft “to develop mobile readers for EMV and magnetic-stripe cards that support the Surface tablet,” Belikoff says. He predicts that the Surface retail solution will eventually incorporate MagTek’s current mobile portfolio, including the uDynamo, BulleT, and DynaPro Mini readers, along with the DynaPro and Dynamag countertop readers. Belikoff notes Microsoft Surface also is engaged in the development of charging carts, fixed and mobile POS casings, and cases through other partnerships. Microsoft also subtly implied that its Surface products are ready to compete with the iPad, with Belikoff noting “tablets are being used by retailers to allow for ‘assisted selling’ and mobile point-of-sale solutions that help make employees lives easier and improve the customer experience.”
From “Microsoft Surface Minds the Store, Forges Mobile Payment Partnerships”
eWeek (01/14/14) Hernandez, Pedro