Mastercard has incorporated with NMI and Global Payments Inc. to launch its first live Cloud Tap on Phone pilot with Computer Engineering Group (CEG), a Napa, Calif.-based independent IT Services provider. Cloud tap on phone software is being hosted on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform and is one of Mastercard’s innovative next-generation acceptance products.
Mastercard has been leading the transition to contactless payments for years now. This transition was driven as a result of a need for a faster, more convenient, safer, and now cleaner way to make contactless payments. It’s a one-way street with touch-free experiences expected to be permanent for consumers and businesses even after the pandemic ends. In fact, in the third quarter of 2020, contactless penetration represented 41% of in-person purchase transactions globally, up from 37% in the second quarter and 30% a year ago.
This cloud Tap on phone means that any business regardless of size would be able to deliver a new and best-in-class contactless consumer experience using a device that they already own, that is, a smartphone. The company said that the setup “democratizes point-of-scale technology by turning an Android smartphone or tablet into an acceptance device-enabling businesses to receive contactless payments and also minimizing the need to invest in hardware terminals or extra features”. The new pilot program will test the cloud-based point of sale (POS) technology.
With the introduction of Cloud Point of Sale (POS), Mastercard is enhancing its Tap on Phone product and empowering ecosystem partners to develop their own cloud-based products with new tools and capabilities.
“Tap on Phone technology perfectly complements the acceleration of contactless payments in the U.S. market”, said Nick Starai, chief strategy officer, NMI. He further states “ This is a grounding step in creating a world that enables merchants to turn their smartphones into a payment acceptance device without the need for an externally paired physical card reader”
NMI offers “card payment gateways, processing over 1.2 billion transactions a year from retail POS, eCommerce and self-service terminals.” POS also becomes a new channel for Mastercard and our partners to bring value-added services to customers and businesses.
Mastercard will make its pre-certified Cloud POS software development kits (SDKs) openly available in multiple cloud environments, encouraging solution providers, fintech, acquirers, and processors to innovate and co-create new cloud-first products. Mastercard’s pilot with CEG represents the first live deployment of Mastercard Cloud Tap on the Phone anywhere in the world.
