Ingenico Buys POS Software Company Phos

Ingenico is expanding its point-of-sale offerings with its purchase of Phos.

The acquisition, announced Tuesday (March 28), gives Ingenico — a payments acceptance solution company — access to Phos’ software-only Point of Sale solutions (SoftPoS) tools.

“Our clients and partners around the world have clearly identified SoftPoS as one of the biggest opportunities they see right now,” Giulio Montemagno, general manager of PPaaS for Ingenico, said in a news release.

“They consider SoftPoS a strategic option to engage with new customer segments and develop and test innovative use cases at scale, with minimum incremental investments in technology and distribution.”

According to the release, SoftPoS turns smartphones or tablets into payment terminals while still complying with payment security standards. Uses of the technology include helping small merchants and sole proprietors accept digital payments.

In addition, SoftPos lets enterprise customers outfit their sales staff with tablet-style devices for in-aisle payments acceptance.

Ingenico’s purchase of Phos is happening at a moment when smaller merchants are faced with the choice of embracing digital payment features or losing business.

Research by PYMNTS and Cybersource — surveying over 13,300 consumers and over 3,100 merchants across Brazil, India, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States — shows that consumers aren’t finding the digital features they value when shopping small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

For example, even in two of the world’s largest economies — the U.S. and the U.K. — a respective 22% and 25% of SMBs say they have yet to embrace digital wallet acceptance despite the increasing usage of this payment method among consumers.

“Where SMBs are focusing more attention and upgrades is contactless card payments, with 29% of SMBs planning to add contactless cards in the next three years, and 26% anticipating touchless checkout innovations,” PYMNTS wrote.

The news comes two weeks after Ingenico announced the appointment of a new CEO. Laurent Blanchard, former chief operating officer of the POS platform company Cegid, will become Ingenico’s chief operating officer on April 3.

“Laurent is an experienced global executive with an impressive 25-year track record in the technology sector, particularly in Europe and North America,” the firm said in a news release.

“Throughout his career, Laurent has been an avid advocate for sustainability and technology as a catalyst for business innovation.”

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