In the 1970s, when ABBA recorded their first album and when the second Walt Disney World began accepting visitors, another great achievement happened – the birth of the bulky magnetic stripe reader now known as a point of sale (POS) terminal.

Today,ABBA’s audio cassettes are no longer for sale and plenty more  amusement parks have opened, but the POS terminal continue to be in first position in popularity for making payments. Since then, it has gone through many technological advances and has ended up transformed into mobile POS with a touch screen and  contactless reader.

The POS terminal generally does the following:

    • Initiates card transactions using the most suitable technology
    • Interacts with the payee transactions using card data from the previous step
    • Completes the transaction and stores data into the journal
    • Prints a receipt with the transaction processing results data

Unlike video and audio, where years ago similar magnetic tape technology was used, payment cards contain several  useful options simultaneously and still include a magnetic stripe along with the EMV chip and PayPass. So POS terminals nowadays are multi-functional devices like a Swiss Army knife, supporting diverse payment methods.

POS TRIBES

Long and rich history of POS terminals has given way to a variety of point of sale machines that fit into the needs of specific businesses:

      • Standalone POS terminals which are conditionally divided into countertops with no built-in battery and portable which can be used anywhere mobility is required.

    Stationary terminals use Ethernet and Mobile internet. They can also be connected to a PC. Portable ones use the mobile internet, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels.

    • Integrated POS terminals which are embedded in the cash register, can be found in gas stations, parking areas and vending machines.
    • Mobile POS, which is basically a smartphone, tablet or dedicated wireless device that performs the functions of a wireless point-of-sale terminal.. To implement a Mobile POS, businesses need a credit and debit card reader, and an application downloaded to whatever device is going to be used for the transactions.

IDENTIFYING THE FUTURE

E-commerce evolution and QR payment inventions granted POS device powerful competitors. However, that’s welcome as competition encourages technology progress.

MULTIPLE PAYMENT CARD SCHEMES ACCEPTANCE, VARIOUS EXISTING MOBILE APP-BASED LOYALTY PROGRAMS AND MODERN EASY-TO-USE POS DEVICES ALLOW MERCHANTS AND CUSTOMERS TO EXPERIENCE A MORE COMFORTABLE, QUICK AND FLEXIBLE SERVICE

Also contactless technologies like PayPass, Apple pay and Android pay, which allow users to make payments instantly with just one touch, gave POS devices a second wind and reduced purchase time like never before.

For now, somewhere more somewhere less but cash is still in use and merchants need a secure place to store it for transactions. Nevertheless the worldwide economy is confidently moving towards a cashless society. And one day soon cash may disappear completely along with the necessity of paper receipts. Thus the cash drawer and receipt printer will also fade away.

Might it be possible that smart POS terminals will totally replace outdated POS systems? In fact it is already happening in restaurants, where smart POS terminals not only perform the transaction but also register the order. Will other industries follow? Anyhow POS systems and particularly POS terminals will continue to evolve and modify introducing new features, and simplifying the authentication process for cashiers and consumers, while increasing business efficiency.

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

Currently more than 100 million point-of-sale terminals are installed all over the world. Smart POS solutions are expected to facilitate retail transactions, be fully mobile, support PayPass, smartphone payments and store data in the cloud. To keep customers happy the system needs to provide immediate response, also the importance of data security is paramount.

Addressing these demands and realizing the importance of all existing POS operations support, Solanteq expanded a solutions line with powerful and technically savvy SOLAR POS Handler.

SOLAR POS HANDLER IS DESIGNED TO BE FLEXIBLE AND TAKES INTO ACCOUNT DIFFERENCES IN CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS. SUPPORTING THE LATEST POS SYSTEMS CAPABILITIES, IT ENABLES RETAILERS TO SAVE INVESTMENTS AND INSTALL NEW APPLICATIONS