Mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) terminals will handle 40% of all retail transaction value in 2021 – up from an expected 12% this year. The prediction comes from Juniper Research.
mPOS is defined as smartphone- and tablet-based terminals. These will have a 30%+ share of the POS terminal market by 2021, driven by adoption by large retailers.
Retailers will be able to significantly cut down on queuing by using mPOS. These devices will also be able to be used to offer targeted advertising and personalised services.
Juniper believes that mPOS is playing a key role in enabling smaller merchants in emerging markets – especially across India, LATAM and Southeast Asia – to accept card payments and grow.
Much of the growth in these regions is being supplied by local vendors, such as Banamex and SmartPesa. Many of these offer low transaction charges, which helps to establish market share and brand loyalty. These vendors will thus have a slight advantage over new entrants. Over time, however, it is expected that the market will trend towards continually lower rates. This will force out those who cannot offer tailored services, or cannot afford to operate with very narrow margins.
