Worldline Expands into Merchant Acquiring, to Deploy Smart Point-of-Sale Devices in Small Towns

Mumbai: French payment company Worldline, which has been processing credit card payments for over 25 years in India, has diversified into the merchant acquiring business. The company has stated that it will deploy smart Android-based point-of-sale devices in shops and retail establishments and provide value-added services, with the POS devices doubling as the computer to manage the retailer's business.

"What has enabled our move into the merchant acquiring space is the evolution of the POS machine, which is now a smart device like a smartphone and can hold specific solutions for the merchant," said Ramesh Narasimhan, Chief Executive Officer - India, Worldline. Besides facilitating multi-mode payment, the POS device will simplify accounting, reconciliation, and Khaata.

"The solution will also enable the merchant to set up their online store and provide customers with the facility of paying in EMIs," he added. The application, BOSS, short for Business Ka One-Stop Shop, will run on the Android POS and provide user-specific solutions for different businesses, such as pharmacies, restaurants, and grocery stores. Worldline aims to accelerate the digitization of payments in tier III and tier IV towns.

Narasimhan said that he expected the value-added services to drive the merchant acquisition business, as the needs of merchants have gone beyond an acceptance service. "Merchants are seeing value in this, and when they see value, they are willing to pay for it," he said. “We expect the Direct acquiring business to contribute 30% of the terminal business in the next three years," he added.

Narasimhan said that the company would not be competing with the banks, as merchant acquiring would still require a bank, and the company would be providing the acquiring infrastructure and partnering with the bank.