Pine Labs's new AllTap app will bring contactless, cashless payments to small merchants and entrepreneurs

The onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic early last year slowed the country and the rest of the world down for months, and kept most people indoors except for essential work and shopping for supplies. The past year also saw a big jump in terms of digital payments in the country, with several merchants and small businesses switching over simply for the sake of convenience during the pandemic.

However, while adoption of digital payments in place of cash has certainly seen an uptick, a large section of the economy comprising smaller entrepreneurs has not benefited from digitisation, according to merchant commerce platform Pine Labs. The company announced on Wednesday that it has introduced a new payments solution for the next-door general store, the homegrown and delivery economy. The new AllTap application involves using an app with a Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled smartphone instead of a Point of Sale (PoS) machine.

Also read: Paytm launches ‘India’s first’ Android PoS device for easy, contactless payments

Pine Labs states that their new app will address the needs of this segment that is not eager to invest in a PoS solution, instead allowing contactless payments for over a hundred payment options between the retailer and the customer. The system also allows merchants to set up their devices to accept a payment, converting it into a Pay Later EMI system, which should incentivise customer spending. The AllTap application turns your NFC-enabled smartphone into a device that can accept payments during door-step deliveries and move through check out lines faster with tap-and-pay options.

AllTap is an application designed to replace a PoS device, but it offers a Contactless Payments on COTS (CPoC) payment solution that is standards compliant. Payments via cards can also be accepted via the app - up to a limit of ₹5,000. Pine Labs CTO Sanjeev Kumar stated that the SSC-CPoC listing underwent an extensive audit and certification from PCI-SSC and leading networks like RuPay, Visa, Mastercard and AMEX. Pine Labs says they already have 1,50,000 merchants under the company’s banner.

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“We heard from small merchants, taxi drivers, self-employed individuals, tuition-givers, and several other solopreneurs, who wanted a simple digital payments acceptance solution. We are proud to unveil AllTap in response to their needs. AllTap comes with cutting-edge contactless payments technology and requires no additional hardware for merchants to start accepting digital payments. Their NFC-enabled smartphone is now a payments acceptance device. Pine Labs AllTap has tremendous potential to bridge the digital divide not only in India but also in other markets. We are excited to introduce this pioneering app in the market today,” B. Amrish Rau, CEO, Pine Labs