As the payments industry contemplates the changes affecting point-of-sale systems, two Utah-based companies are providing what they consider a peek into the future with a cloud-managed tablet system.
Point-of-sale system vendor OlympusPOS LLC is partnering with management-software provider MokiMobility Inc. to offer a retail-payment system in which an Apple Inc. iPad serves as the main payment terminal linked to a cloud-based retail mobile device management system, the companies announced June 11.
Holladay, Utah-based Olympus provides the POS software, and Lehi, Utah-based MokiMobility provides the software to manage mobile devices throughout an entire company, such as a franchise with numerous locations, Brad Hintze, MokiMobility spokesperson, tells PaymentsSource. The device-management software also allows retailers to lock down the iPad home button, essentially making it a single-purpose device as a POS terminal, he adds.
“The iPad is great as a consumer device, but when using it as a point-of-sale device with management capabilities you want to lock out the other uses,” Hintze says.
Salt Lake City-based EarthFruits Yogurt, operated by Yoasis Franchising Systems LLC, already has incorporated the new Olympus system into two of its stores, Hintze says.
In doing so, EarthFruits Yogurt has customized its logo on the iPad log-in screen and has put the store’s entire menu on the iPad, according to a MokiMobility press release stated. The system allows also retailers to add or remove the names of employees granted access to the devices, the company stated.
The Olympus POS system represents the type of technological development at the point of sale that acquirers and retailers are watching closely as the payments industry undergoes swift changes.
In a recent Aite Group study, bank-owned acquirers stated they felt cloud-based or mobile POS systems would render traditional terminals obsolete within the next 10 years, while non-bank acquirers felt it would take longer than 10 years (
The system represents an alternative for stores that operate in smaller settings, Brian Riley, senior research director and analyst with Needham, Mass.-based TowerGroup, tells PaymentsSource.
“There is a lot of promise with cloud-based POS systems, but it’s way too early to socialize it and see them in places like Macy’s or Wal-Mart with hundreds of checkout locations,” Riley suggests.
Specialty stores, particularly those selling such items as yogurt or ice cream in which small transactions generally take place, are perfect prospects for a tablet-based POS system, he contends.
“Olympus is kind of going for that area in which no signature would be required on the smaller transactions,” Riley notes. “It’s an area that Visa and MasterCard are trying to get by increasing their no-signature limit to $50, so you know there’s a play there, and lots of it.”
Olympus builds the MokiMobility costs into their system when offering it to retailers, charging a flat monthly fee based on the size of the retailer and the number of locations, Hintze notes. For example, the EarthFruits Yogurt franchise has locations in Utah, Florida and, soon, the United Arab Emirates, and the POS system will operate in, and provide management tools for, all locations, he adds.
The introduction of the cloud-based system represents Olympus’ first foray into front-office retail POS systems, Hintze notes. “Olympus has long been providing software for back-office services such as accounting and supplies inventory,” he adds.
MokiMobility provides the application interfaces and the Web-based console that allows independent vendors or developers to incorporate the software to iPads or Android tablets, Hintze says.
In addition, Olympus will set up the system to move transaction data from the point of sale to whichever processor the retailer chooses, he adds. The iPad and the system software are able of accept transactions through any mobile card reader on the market, allowing the retailer to choose which device to use, Hintze notes.
Steve Walter, OlympusPOS founder and CEO, considers the partnership with MokiMobility to be a key factor in future iPad POS systems.
“With its cloud-based management, MokiMobility’s mobile-device management is an ideal addition to our system,” Walter said in the press release.
Olympus now may offer clients management capabilities that make it easy to install as many systems as they need without spending the time and money to update and manage each device individually, he added.
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