Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited that operates voice and data services, under the MTS brand, has launched MTS mPOS, a mobile point of sale device that can be attached to MTS mobiles for point of sales transactions.
The company has partnered with a solutions provider for the service but when contacted by MediaNama, declined to reveal the partner’s name and said that it’s still in a final round of negotiation.
According to the company, the PoS can be used by retail and home delivery services,small shops, provision stores, delivery boys, and others, at places where other terminals can’t be used. The mPOS device that will be attached to the mobile handset is essentially a mobile substitute to the conventional credit/ debit card readers (Electronic Data Capture Machines). The company claims that this service reduces the high hardware costs of a conventional PoS terminal & the monthly maintenance charges involved.
How to use & cost of the device/payment processing fee
In order to use the service, one needs to buy the total bundle (MTS MTag 3.1 CDMA phone, mPOS attachment & one year Data plan)costing them between Rs.3000 – 4000. Currently, the service is available only on MTS MTag 3.1 device, however, MTS plans to bring this service on other MTS Android handsets as well.
To use the device one needs to download the mPOS app on the smartphone. The mPOS device fits on the phone through the smartphone audio jack. Once the purchase is made, the merchant can enter the transaction on the mPOS app on the smartphone and swipe the credit/debit card on the mPOS device attached. To verify the purchase customers signature can be taken on the smartphone screen. Once the payment is processed, intimation is sent to the card holder via SMS and email. For the merchant, the amount is transferred to the registered bank account.
Payment terms & Costs
The company estimates that the average monthly spends on usage of MTS mPOS would be between Rs.200 – Rs.300, which will include the data charges for the service and bank payment gateway fees. However, it also depends on the number of transactions per device. It did not reveal the specifics of the transaction charges. We do not know whether MTS is purely serving as a facilitator for data connectivity, or has a per-transaction share.
Security
The company claims that the details of the credit/debit card acquired at the time of swipe are encrypted and not stored on the mobile handset. According to the company, the entire end-to-end solution is PCI (Payment Card industry) DSS (Data Security Standards) compliant.
Other players
Recently, PayMate, the mobile payments company,had launched a PayPOS mobile application, which also enabled credit and debit cards payments and electronic transactions on mobile phones at the point of sale (POS). However, unlike MTS’ mPOS service, PayMate is an application based payment application and is available on all Android/iOS devices.
Apart from that, PayPal launched PayPal Here, a mobile based payment solution for small businesses. PayPal Here is a similar solution, however, it’s only available on the iPhone and not available in India yet. Square also offers similar solution but it is also not available in India.
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