ETA MEMBER GUEST BLOG: The Truth About mPOS Solutions – What Resellers and Merchants Need to Know

June 3, 2014 – Guest blog from ETA Member VeriFone’s Evan Sohn, Sr. Director of Sales – North American Financial Services Group

With the emergence of mobile point-of-sale (mPOS), small to medium sized merchants have turned to ISOs for mPOS expertise and technology that enables payment acceptance beyond the counter. However, the growth in popularity of mPOS has been marked by new technology companies that sell tablet-based mPOS solutions directly to merchants.  Through our numerous discussions with ISO partners, we’ve noticed that ISOs are feeling squeezed by these merchant-direct mPOS technologies.

VeriFone’s decision to exclusively offer its mPOS solution—specifically GlobalBay Merchant—through the reseller channel is important, as it protects the ISOs’ relationship with their merchants against merchant-direct mPOS technologies (looking to disinter-mediate them).  It also provides the merchant with a turnkey solution that transforms merchants’ smartphones and tablets into flexible, scalable mPOS terminals and business-management solutions that integrate with existing front and back end systems.

The Truth About mPOS Solutions –

What Resellers and Merchants Need to Know

by Evan Sohn

Listen to vendor pitches for mobile POS systems these days and 4-out-of-5 times you’re likely to come across a glaring disconnect. Rarely will you hear an mPOS solutions provider talk about countertop terminals (e.g., PIN pads) except in their desire to displace them!

Is mPOS an either-or solution? I don’t think so, at least not in what we think of as the traditional brick-and-mortar merchant environment. For many merchants, an mPOS solution is likely to be used in a mixed environment alongside traditional payment terminals, or hooked up directly to a terminal or PIN pad.

A tablet-based mPOS solution is fantastic for moving payment and other functions into the aisle and away from the counter. Merchants can use them to easily set up sidewalk sales and pop up stores. And with the addition of peripherals such as a cash drawer, an mPOS solution can indeed function as a standalone countertop replacement for the traditional ECR/POS system.

But until every consumer possesses and is willing to use a mobile digital wallet, the mobile merchant needs a card acceptance device that provides more functionality, robustness and customer-facing capabilities than you can find with a dongle.

At minimum, using mPOS as a countertop solution requires a secure PIN pad so the merchant can accept any form of electronic payment including debit. In the not-to-distant future, the merchant will likely begin using EMV and will need a card insertion/PIN entry solution to add to the mPOS. Similarly, they’re likely to need contactless NFC capability. The quickest and easiest way to do so will be with a new generation PIN pad or terminal connected to the mPOS.

In more sophisticated environments, merchants are going to want traditional terminals as well as mPOS in their stores, so that they can have the best of all payment worlds. Some will want to support multiple stores, devices and employees using the same application.

Payment systems resellers need to make sure they stay connected to the bigger picture when battling for mPOS sales. It’s easy to add a dongle to a smartphone and sell it as a mPOS solution, but is that going to best serve your needs or those of your customers?

We live in an increasingly integrated and services-based world and it’s critical to find partners who can help you tie together a portfolio that includes mPOS and traditional terminals. You don’t want to stand alone in this highly competitive environment and you don’t want to get disconnected as your merchants grow and look for greater integration.

View VeriFone’s Whitepaper on Slideshare HERE 

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Evan Sohn is currently the Senior Director of Sales for the North American Financial Services group at VeriFone where he is responsible for launching VeriFone’s new business in tablet software.

From 2003-2006, he acted as Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Omnipod, the service provider of secure enterprise instant messaging, which was acquired by MessageLabs in 2005 (and subsequently by Symantec in 2007). At Omnipod, Sohn implemented and managed the organization’s marketing and sales strategies, including product positioning, volume sales and enterprise sales.

From 2000-2003, Sohn served as VP Sales and Marketing for ReefEdge, which develops security and management solutions for enterprise wireless networks.  From its initial funding, Sohn guided the company’s growth, developing and implementing customer acquisition and marketing programs. There he helped define Wireless LAN Security and Management.

After graduating from New York University Stern School of Business in 1989, Sohn founded Logix, which pioneered mobile-based handheld solutions in CRM, medical information, and wireless and education sectors for clients that include Abbott Labs, American Express, EDS, Forest Laboratories, Merck, NASA, Novartis, Roche, and Snyder Healthcare.  When acquired by IMS Health in ‘98, Sohn joined its management team of VP of Business Development.

Evan holds seven patents in telecommunication, mobile education, medical instrumentation and medical data capture.