Mastercard has extended its partnership with Point of Sale software provider phos as part of efforts to grow coverage of contactless card transactions.

The renewed collaboration will see phos, a FinTech which provides software-only Point of Sale (SoftPoS) solutions, and Mastercard extend their coverage to support Tap on Phone, a Mastercard solution that turns phones into payment acceptance devices.

It is hoped that the agreement will lower the barrier to entry for small and medium sized enterprises that want to offer contactless payments.

By downloading Tap on Phone, SMEs can turn any near-field communications-enabled android mobile device into a PoS, accepting contactless payments from debit or credit cards, mobile wallets and wearables.

Phos’ SoftPoS technology removes the need for hardware in the form of PoS devices, which are often an obstacle for smaller merchants wanting to take more than just cash in payment.

Mastercard has also raised the Card Holder Verification Limit (CVM), the amount merchants can accept for contactless transactions in over 80 markets, removing a further barrier to adoption and supporting retailers’ ability to offer a safe method of payment.

Mastercard said this move is critical to securing ongoing revenue at a time when 79 percent of consumers worldwide say they are now using contactless payments, citing safety and cleanliness as key drivers.

Data from phos shows that more than 33 million businesses across Europe are still reliant on cash, with concerns including the hidden costs, hardware requirements and security issues of traditional PoS.

Jason Lane, Executive Vice President, Market Development Europe at Mastercard, said: “One of the many ways in which we try to help small businesses at Mastercard is by enabling them to accept payments so that they are not limited to cash only transactions.

“This can help them improve their cashflows and benefit their bottom lines. Our partnership with phos not only fulfils this goal, but it also enables small businesses to provide their customers with contactless payment options via Tap on Phone thus meeting the strong consumer demand for contactless payments.”

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