phos and Mastercard boost the backbone of Europe’s economy by enabling micro, small and medium-sized companies to accept digital payments

The pilot project to provide MSMEs with a mobile solution to accept contactless payments will span across the United Kingdom, Germany, Bulgaria and Romania

Phos today unveiled a pilot project with Mastercard, introducing an innovative mobile solution that enables merchants to accept contactless payments on Android mobile devices without the need for any additional hardware. Simple and effective, the solution will enable millions of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to accept cashless payments and grow their businesses.

Micro, small and medium-sized merchants are the backbone of the European economy. These small businesses traditionally accept cash only, a disadvantageous and insecure type of payment due to hidden costs and security issues. Together phos and Mastercard now provide an alternative solution for MSMEs enabling them to accept digital payments in a simple, effective and secure way.

“For businesses, no matter how big or small, their customers expect the ability to pay the way they want. Payment choice is now fundamental, and to date this has been a challenge for micro businesses. This solution by phos has been designed to meet the flexibility and cost requirements of small and micro business owners, by leveraging existing technology – their smart phone – to accept convenient and secure contactless payments.” Commented Scott Abrahams, Senior Vice President of business development and fintech for Mastercard in the UK.

“Traditional point of sale terminals may not always answer the specific needs of small and micro merchants and are therefore often out of their reach. With phos these businesses can now leverage their mobile devices to accept contactless payments. Including the financially underserved merchants in digital payments marks a great achievement for us as we strive to simplify financial services” says Antonina Martinova, the co-founder of phos.

The pilot project will rely on Paynetics, an e-money institution with license across the European Union, as the acquiring bank and is expected to last until April 2020. Partnering with approximately 200 merchants across the participating countries of the United Kingdom, Germany, Bulgaria and Romania will allow further refining of this innovative point of sale solution based on actual market conditions.

Phos is downloadable from the GooglePlay store and enables all Android devices to accept payments from contactless cards or other NFC-enabled devices such as smartphones, smartwatches or wristbands. In line with phos’ ease of use merchants are verified in a fully digital due diligence process which follows both anti money laundering as well as other locally applicable regulations. Further emphasizing on the solution’s security, Mastercard certified phos via its Mastercard Digital Enablement Service as one of the first digital point of sale solutions for all Android devices.

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phos
Phos is a pioneering purely software POS solution which enables payment acceptance from contactless cards or mobile phones directly on any NFC Android device without additionally needed hardware. Phos offers additional powerful functionalities such product catalogues or loyalty applications that seamlessly integrate with the software POS. With easy in-app onboarding and cost-effective payment acceptance phos targets not only financially underserved small and micro merchants but also direct marketing businesses, couriers or unattended retail. In addition phos partners with large banks and acquirers to offer fully customizable white label solutions. Phos passed Level 2 MDES certification and met all testing requirements by the renowed security laboratory Brightsight.

Find out more at https://phos.cloud

 
Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. By innovating new ways to make transactions safe, simple and smart, our goal is to power and connect an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone everywhere. Using secure data and networks, our products and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we envision a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.

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