7 SoftPOS Benefits: Why Businesses Are Switching to Tap-to-Phone Payments

You remember how relieving it felt when you could pay just with your phone and could leave your cards and cash at home? The SoftPOS benefits are bringing a similar relief for businesses receiving payments.

According to the Fortune Business Insights report, small businesses make up for 51% of the global SoftPOS market share. The Forbes Technology Council has also observed that more and more businesses are strategically phasing out the standard POS and are shifting to SoftPOS.

So, SoftPOS is not a niche technology that requires a certain scale of operation for it to benefit your sales operations. SoftPOS is simpler, secure, and just more efficient no matter your business size and irrespective of your industry.

What Is SoftPOS?

SoftPOS, or "software point of sale" (also called "tap-to-phone" or "tap on phone"), is a software or app that you can install on your phone to turn it into a POS terminal.

The traditional POS system was hardware-based, where the service provider gave the businesses proprietary hardware for accepting payments.

The next step was mPOS (mobile point of sale), where you could use your phone as a POS, but you still needed a card reader and Bluetooth pairing to complete the POS system.

SoftPOS provides ultimate mobility by completely removing extra hardware and lets you process all payments through your phone. So, a customer can use their card or mobile wallet just as they would do at a physical terminal, and you can accept the payment with your phone.

One of the most appealing SoftPOS benefits is that it is not just about accepting payments. It supports many sales operations like generating digital receipts and sending them instantly to customers or keeping track of sales staff performance in real-time.

Top 7 Benefits of SoftPOS for Businesses

Here are the top 7 softPOS benefits that businesses often share.

Fewer Devices

When you are using SoftPOS on your phone, you do not have to juggle the hardware parts like battery, card reader, Bluetooth connector, dongle, or wires. Your phone will handle the sales end-to-end, i.e., from accepting payment to sending the receipt to the customer. If you are a solopreneur or a freelancer, being able to process all payments through your phone takes a huge load off.

Card-Present Processing

There are two major types of card payments that your customers make: Card present: Where the customer and the card are actually there at your store. Card not present: Where the customer makes the payment through an online gateway, a payment link, etc. One of the major SoftPOS benefits is that its NFC can capture the card or mobile wallet tap in person. So, the transaction becomes a card-present transaction, which generally attracts lower processing fees and results in fewer disputes with the customer.

Flexibility

One of the most appealing SoftPOS benefits for businesses is the fact that it supports multiple payment methods. For example, a SoftPOS app like BrandPOS lets your customers pay with their mobile wallet, tap-to-pay cards, QR codes, account-to-account transfers, payment links, etc. So you do not have to carry any additional hardware like a card reader or lose a sale because your customer’s preferred payment option is not available.

Low Setup Cost

Traditional POS terminals often need hundreds of dollars in upfront investment for hardware. On top of it there will be regular maintenance and replacement charges. A SoftPOS app is more cost-effective because you already own the hardware (i.e., your phone).

Enhanced Mobility

One of the most important SoftPOS benefits is that it frees you from fixed counters. A fashion boutique or a restaurant can let the customer do the payment on their floor or at the table. A food truck or a freelancer can open their pop-up anywhere without worrying about hardware management.

Shorter Checkout Times

Tap-to-pay is among the fastest payment methods, and it is much faster than swiping a card and inserting a PIN. So, businesses can process more payments per hour, and customers get the SoftPOS benefits of saved time and shopping without frustration.

Integrated Business Operations

A lot of SoftPOS apps are built with consideration to the entire sales loop. So, they often provide features like integration with stock management or staff account management to ensure that payment data is integrated with other business data in real time.

Is SoftPOS Secure? Understanding PCI MPoC, Encryption, and Tokenization

Even though SoftPOS apps are used from regular smartphones, there are powerful security features working in the background to keep your data safe.

PCI MPoC (Mobile Payments on Commercial Off-the-Shelf) Certification: PCI MPoC is the global security standard established by the Payment Card Industry. It is basically a security checklist that the SoftPOS systems must pass.

Encryption: When a customer taps their card or pays with their mobile wallet, the payment information is turned into an unreadable code and then shared for processing. So, even if someone manages to intercept the information, they will not be able to use it, as they do not have the system to decrypt the information. It essentially means nothing.

Tokenization: The customer’s actual card details are never shared. Instead, it is shared as a random substitute number called a token, which can be used only once.

PIN-on-glass: If a security PIN has to be entered, the customer can enter it on the phone's screen, which has a specially secured PIN-entry system.

How SoftPOS is Changing the Retail Landscape

SoftPOS benefits retailers by helping them overcome the constraints of a traditional hardware POS to create a better in-store experience for the customers.

When the floor staff can process the payments quickly, it avoids long waiting times and queues to improve the in-store experience of the customer.

One of the major SoftPOS benefits for retailers is that it lets them take their business to pop-ups, live events, and the customers' doorstep.

The reduction in hardware costs is one of the immediate SoftPOS benefits for retailers. They do not have to spend money on buying and maintaining hardware POS setups. It also lets the retailers add or remove SoftPOS phones for checkout based on customer flow.

Even if the retailer has a traditional POS, SoftPOS benefits the business as an emergency POS when the fixed POS breaks down.

Which Businesses Benefit Most From SoftPOS?

SoftPOS apps are very versatile, and most industries can benefit from their flexibility and ease of use.

Small Businesses and Startups: SoftPOS apps help to increase the profit margin by eliminating the heavy capital expenditure.

Mobile businesses can get a lightweight POS option that fits their mobility needs and also helps manage their sales operations across different locations with greater ease.

Restaurants and food delivery can benefit from SoftPOS options to accept payments at the customer’s doorstep or accept payments at the table or for calculating tips and managing order flow.

For businesses with complex situations (e.g., automatic checkout counters), adding a SoftPOS option on top of the hardware POS gives flexibility and makes their sales processes more customer-friendly.

Freelancers: SoftPOS POS helps freelancers to keep their costs low and at the same time enjoy enterprise-grade payment flexibility.

How to Choose the Right SoftPOS App

Here are the questions that you should ask while picking the SoftPOS app:

Is the SoftPOS compatible with your preferred smartphone (Android or iOS)? Can the OS version of the phone run the SoftPOS app smoothly?

Can the SoftPOS app help you process all the payment methods that your customers might need?

Does the SoftPOS app integrate seamlessly with your bank and your choice of payment provider?

Do you have to buy any proprietary hardware or software as a bundle with the SoftPOS app? And is there a lock-in period?

How easy is it to contact the app’s customer support when you need assistance?

Does the app meet industry standards for security compliance?

How Brandpos SoftPOS App Helps Your Business

If you are a business owner, BrandPOS is the best app to get the SoftPOS benefits for your sales.

A True SoftPOS App: BrandPOS is unique among the leading SoftPOS apps because it is a ‘true’ SoftPOS app, i.e., it is not tied to any proprietary countertop hardware, nor does it mandate years of lock-in. So, your business has greater freedom in adding BrandPOS to your existing sales ecosystem.

Faster Setup and Instant Scalability: You can download the BrandPOS app on your phone itself. The registration and verification of the business is also quicker and completed online. So, there is no time lost in placing an order, waiting for the hardware, and setup.

In isolation this might seem important but not so significant, but think about when there is a seasonal spike in sales or you get a last-minute slot at a pop-up. With BrandPOS you just have to install the app on one more phone to handle the changing sales volume.

Zero Hardware Cost & Pay As You Go Pricing: BrandPOS gives you one of the lowest per transaction rates at 0.19%. As you will be using BrandPOS from the phone that you already own, there is no upfront investment in extra hardware.

Staff Performance Tracking: BrandPOS lets you track employee sales performances on its dashboard. You can also keep an eye on all sales as they happen because BrandPOS is a cloud-based SoftPOS app that updates the transactions in real-time.

Security: BrandPOS secures customer data and your transactions by complying with industry-standard security systems.