Will SMBs Turn Back to Banks for mPOS Services?

Welcome to the new monthly mPOS Tracker, a PYMNTS Special Report sponsored by ROAM. In this report, we rank the players that we track, and score these players based on numbers and types of devices used, geographies where solutions are implemented, the number of payment types accepted, and more.

This month’s report begins by exploring the news that broke around Amazon and how it will sell its own branded dongle at Staples. This makes Amazon the 123rd player to enter the mPOS space. The new entrance will present a huge opportunity for mPOS merchants at Amazon – consumers won’t need a card to interact with them.

The report also prompts us to ask the question: Will SMBs forgive banks and turn back to banks for financial services, including mPOS? SMBs were basically ignored by banks during the financial crisis, but that has started to change, says MPD CEO Karen Webster. We still don’t know how SMBs will react to the sales pitches of bankers who previously weren’t there to back them.

According to ROAM’s VP of Marketing Scott Holt, some of the lies about mPOS solutions indicate that they are not secure and don’t offer key functionalities that consumers want and need. mPOS solutions will also likely see a boost as we approach the September back-to-school rush, as well as the holiday season. mPOS enables portable and pop-up commerce, especially during these key times of the year.

Those who scored the highest this month were those whose platforms enable a variety of capabilities and functionalities – they have the greatest ability to support many retailers and fully monetize the mPOS ecosystem. Those players are: PayPal Here, Kalixa pro, GoPago, Ayden Shuttle, Vexilor from Givex, Payleven, and ROAM. Five new players joined the mPOS pyramid this month: ARBA, Snappay, SureSwipe, Wirecard, and Xüdle. We also provided updates to nine players: iZettle, Miura, Payleven, Powa POS, Revel, ShopKeep, Square, Sr. Pago and Swish.

Here are the three key takeaways for this month:

1) Differentiation is key in a crowded market. New entrants, Amazon or anyone else, has to isolate the reasons why SMBs would want to choose them over a more established player with known features and functions.

2) So is distribution … Being where SMBs (or wannabe SMBs) is key to keeping costs in check and getting distribution. Retail outlets are key for getting mPOS dongles in the hands of SMBs. That’s what also makes banks so appealing, to banks. They need to earn the trust of the SMBs for it to be a winner.

3) mPOS enables both portable and popup commerce…Whether it’s in store to enable a better customer service experience or as a temporary retail opportunity for merchants of any kind, mPOS takes the hassle of experimenting with new retail revenue streams.

For updates surrounding recent Amazon mPOS developments, read more here.

For a more detailed look at the ratings and rankings, click the download button below for a full copy of this month’s report.

THE MPOS PYRAMID AUGUST 2014

Information about these players is available in varying degrees of completeness. Details about volumes and shipments – the information that everyone finds most valuable – is not publicly available. We plan to update this report on a monthly basis to include new entrants, and updates on the players profiled in the prior month’s report. We are also in the process of compiling and will report out aggregated information about shipments and volumes. We encourage you to contact us at mobilepos@pymnts.com if you would like to be included in this report and/or would like us to update your information as we have presented it.