Bangalore-based Ezetap has launched a new mobile point-of-sale device that will cost a lot less than similar products in the market, while meeting global security standards and RBI guidelines.
Rapid growth in India's online retail and financial service sectors is leading to a demand for secure point-of-sale devices, as companies move towards non-cash based transactions. Overall, credit and debit card based transactions in India are expected to touch 862 million this year, a growth of 33% over last year, according to a report by Atos Worldline India.
"India is the toughest market, very competitive and cost sensitive," said Ezetap co-founder Abhijit Bose, who expects to sell one million devices in the next two years. The Ezetap device, will be priced at around Rs 2,900, consists of a lightweight card reader that can be plugged into any smart device or feature phone used by a retailer. Customers need to only swipe their cards on the mobile to complete the transaction.
"Most people prefer cash on delivery. And it became difficult, when they did not have exact cash at the time of delivery," said Abhinay Choudhari, co-founder of online grocery store BigBasket.com, which has about 1.5 lakh customers. Experts said with the government promoting digital payments, the mobile point of sale market is expected to soar. "Millions of mom-and-pop businesses, or kirana shops, cannot afford expensive integrated point-of-sale solutions," said Uttam Nayak, group country manager for India at Visa.
There are a number of companies that offer mobile payment solutions, including Mswipe, Prizm Payments and Synergistic Financial Networks. "It is a very competitive space," said Nayak who expects the insurance and ecommerce industry to be the biggest adopters of mobile point of sale solutions.
Ezetap has bagged banking customers, such as Citibank and Yes Bank, as well as those in the ecommerce, telecom, insurance and hospitality sectors. The company has launched operations in Kenya and expects to enter the South-East Asian markets in the next three months.