Getting Step 1 Right: SoftPOS to Scale

By Barry Levett, Founder and Executive Chairman, SmartPesa

In recent years, acquirers have come under pressure from a fragmented payments landscape and an MDR race to the bottom. Mobile wallets, direct bank account transfer solutions and even digital currencies are among the myriad of challenges to be navigated. 

Acquirers are now playing catch-up by adding new channels, especially SoftPOS. However, achieving sustainable competitive advantage requires going further – much further – with an upgrading of the onboarding and KYC processes and a change in revenue model to value added services.  I will cover some of these in forthcoming articles but for now, the focus is getting step 1 done right, namely SoftPOS to Scale. 

Getting Step 1 Done Right 

The demand for low-cost acceptance methods and simplified KYC processes by small businesses (MSMEs) means SoftPOS is key to building competitive advantage in this dynamic landscape. At SmartPesa, aside from making the experience seamless for merchants, we also look at simplifying the merchant acquisition process for acquirers.   

Onboarding and MIS tools for Rapid Acquiring and Easy Merchant Management  

Providing a frictionless onboarding experience for merchants is essential. Our same-day digital onboarding allows acquiring to take place quickly at low cost and merchants to be activated remotely.  

Our spManage platform supports centralised administration, merchant enrolment and business analytics, further improving acquiring efficiency and lowering operating costs. 

Omnichannel Acquisition  

The lines between eCommerce and physical stores have blurred at a time when going online has become essential for survival. Accordingly, it is now even more important to offer an omnichannel acquiring solution that caters to varying business needs.  

• All popular forms of payments: From card payments to QR codes, mobile wallets and P2P payments, we connect to multiple payment gateways without the need for separate integration. 
•  Easy terminal upgrades: Being able to add or remove terminals with ease allows acquirers to better meet merchant expectations.  
•  Support for PIN: SmartPesa’s SoftPOS with PIN caters to all transactions above the CVM limit.  

Ability to Integrate into Multiple Existing Environments 

Our middleware allows for real-time backend API integration into acquirers’ legacy systems, third-party payments providers including QR wallets and crypto, and other third-party apps. We help overcome legacy system complexity, streamline testing and implementation, thereby enabling speed to market. 

Integration also goes beyond global schemes to extend to popular local schemes, thereby fostering greater inclusion. 

Multi-Currency, Multi-Language, Multi-Jurisdictional 

Supporting multi-currency, multi-language and multi-jurisdictional transactions means greater convenience for merchants and customers, and ultimately provides acquirers with a stronger value proposition. 

According to a report by McKinsey, acquiring will grow to comprise a third of transaction-based payments revenue. Potential earnings from further merchant digitization could also grow by more than $5 billion annually over the next five years. The speed and ease of rolling out innovative payment acceptance solutions by acquirers versus competitors would greatly impact market adoption. 

>> Learn more about our SoftPOS technology and what makes it work here.

Reference
McKinsey & Company, The future of payments in Asia.