What is SoftPOS?
SoftPOS — also known as Tap to Phone or Tap on Phone — is technology that turns a standard NFC-enabled Android smartphone into a payment acceptance device. Instead of a customer tapping their card against a dedicated card reader, they tap it against the back of the merchant's phone, and an app handles the rest: capturing the transaction, running it through NFC and EMV contactless standards, and authorizing it through the same processing infrastructure as any other card-present payment.
The technology behind it is not new — NFC and EMV contactless have underpinned tap-to-pay for years. What SoftPOS changes is where that acceptance happens: on hardware a merchant already owns, rather than on a dedicated device an acquirer has to manufacture, ship, and maintain.
SoftPOS: from tap to settlement
Why Businesses Are Moving Beyond Traditional POS
Traditional POS hardware carries costs that compound across a large merchant portfolio: the terminal itself, the logistics of shipping and provisioning it, the field service required when it breaks, and the delay between approving a merchant and getting a physical device into their hands. For merchants who move — delivery couriers, field sales teams, pop-up retailers, taxi drivers — a fixed terminal is often the wrong form factor entirely.
SoftPOS removes the hardware step from that equation. A merchant with a compatible Android phone can start accepting payments as soon as the app is installed and activated, without waiting for a device to ship. For acquirers, that collapses deployment cost and time simultaneously — the two constraints that most limit how fast a merchant portfolio can grow.
Turn Android Smartphones into Payment Terminals
DigiPay.Guru's SoftPOS platform is an enterprise-grade payment acceptance product, not a consumer app repurposed for merchants. It's built for acquirers who need to deploy Tap to Phone at scale — with centralized merchant management, remote device administration, transaction monitoring, and the same security and compliance rigor expected of physical POS infrastructure.
SoftPOS architecture: from tap to settlement
Traditional POS vs. SoftPOS
| Dimension | Traditional POS | SoftPOS with DigiPay.Guru |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware | Dedicated terminal required | Merchant's own NFC-enabled Android phone |
| Deployment time | Days to weeks, shipping and provisioning | Minutes, app install and activation |
| Deployment cost | Terminal purchase or lease per merchant | No dedicated hardware cost |
| Mobility | Fixed or limited battery-powered mobility | Goes wherever the merchant's phone goes |
| Maintenance | Field service and hardware repair | Software updates pushed remotely |
| Best suited for | Fixed retail counters, high-volume locations | Mobile merchants, delivery, field sales, small business |
How SoftPOS Works
From merchant registration to a settled transaction, SoftPOS follows eight consistent steps.
The Tap to Phone payment flow
Merchant Registration
The merchant is onboarded and enabled for SoftPOS acceptance.
App Installation
The SoftPOS app is installed on a compatible NFC-enabled Android device.
Merchant Authentication
The merchant authenticates into the app before accepting payments.
NFC Activation
The device's NFC acceptance mode is activated for the transaction.
Card Tap
The customer taps a contactless card or digital wallet against the phone.
Transaction Authorization
The transaction is authorized through standard EMV contactless processing.
Receipt Generation
A digital receipt is generated and shared with the customer.
Settlement
The transaction settles through the same engine as every other acceptance channel.
Enterprise SoftPOS Features
Security & Compliance
SoftPOS accepts real card data on consumer-grade hardware, which makes security architecture the foundation of the platform, not an afterthought.
PCI Standards
Built to PCI security standards for software-based contactless acceptance.
EMV Contactless
Transactions processed through standard EMV contactless protocols.
NFC Security
NFC communication secured against interception and tampering.
Data Encryption
Cardholder data encrypted from the point of tap through transaction processing.
Device Authentication
Devices and merchants authenticated before any transaction can be accepted.
Business Benefits
Lower hardware cost
No dedicated terminal required per merchant
Faster onboarding
Merchants accept payment as soon as the app is activated
Wider acceptance
Reaches merchant segments a fixed terminal doesn't fit
Mobile-ready
Built for delivery, field sales, and merchants who move
More merchants acquired
Lower barrier to entry expands the addressable merchant base
Faster time-to-market
Launch a new acceptance channel without a hardware rollout
SoftPOS Across Industries
SoftPOS fits naturally wherever a fixed terminal doesn't — merchants who move, merchants just starting out, and merchants collecting payment somewhere other than a counter.
Why DigiPay.Guru SoftPOS
SoftPOS on DigiPay.Guru is one acceptance channel among several on the same merchant platform, not a separate product with its own merchant management, its own reporting, and its own settlement process. A merchant enabled for SoftPOS shows up in the same dashboard, the same settlement run, and the same reconciliation process as every other channel they use.
Frequently asked questions
Ready to Launch SoftPOS?
Talk to the DigiPay.Guru team about which merchant segments would benefit most from Tap to Phone, or book a demo to see the platform in action.
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