German savings banks roll out Sparkasse POS app that turns the smartphone into a card reader

The Sparkasse Finance Group is now offering its corporate customers nationwide the new Sparkasse POS (S-POS) app. S-POS is a software solution with which business people can accept card payments from their customers on a standard Android smartphone – without any additional acceptance hardware. Corporate customers’ own smartphones thus become mobile card readers.

„Sparkasse POS is the first acceptance app on the German market that can also be used to make payments with the girocard, the most successful and popular payment method in this country,” according to the press release. 

At the start of the market, corporate customers of the savings banks will initially be able to collect amounts of up to 50 euros contactless, both using classic plastic cards and digital cards in payment apps such as “Mobile Payments” or Apple Pay. Customers can also use the S-POS app to make contactless payments using the Maestro, Mastercard, V PAY and Visa card systems.

The S-POS-App is developed by S-Payment together with the full-service payment service provider PAYONE, a joint venture between Worldline and the DSV Group, as well as the partners Deutscher Sparkassenverlag (DSV) and bluesource – mobile solutions developed and provided. 

The “digital terminal” integrated in the app is based on a solution jointly developed by the companies CCV and Rubean, which is installed on the retailer’s smartphone at the same time. The digital terminal enables contactless card payments on the S-POS app.

Cashless payment for everyone

„With Sparkasse POS, small and medium-sized companies without cash register systems or terminal infrastructure can now offer their customers cashless payments,” says Ottmar Bloching, CEO of S-Payment. “S-POS is a central component of our long-term acceptance strategy. We want to develop attractive products that are tailored to the needs of this target group and offer holistic digital solutions. At the same time, we enable private customers to pay ‘with their savings bank’ in more and more places.”

The app allows business people to accept card payments anywhere – this applies, for example, to weekly market feeders, craftsmen, strawberry or sunflower field operators, taxi operators, kiosks, clubs or farm shop owners. 

“With the Sparkasse POS app, the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe and PAYONE are providing this retail segment with an innovative digital alternative to traditional stationary and mobile terminals. We are thus offering merchants a flexible and appropriate introduction to cashless payment – even those who have not yet considered accepting cashless payments,”says Niklaus Santschi, CEO of PAYONE.

Demand for mobile solutions is increasing

With the launch of the Sparkasse POS app for Android smartphones, the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe is offering a product that, especially in times of COVID 19, meets the requirements of retailers for safe and hygienic payment.

According to the “POS Systems 2020” study by the EHI-Retail Institute, 77 percent of the retailers surveyed want to replace all or part of their hardware in the next few years. A key topic in this context is the mobile cash register. 56 percent of the retailers surveyed are planning to use mobile devices to handle the checkout process in the future.

_______________

The Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe (Savings Banks Finance Group) is the largest financial group in Europe and the market leader in Germany. In addition to the Sparkassen, it comprises regional banks (Landesbanken), regional building societies, insurance companies and numerous other financial service providers.

Its umbrella organisation is the Deutsche Sparkassen- und Giroverband (DSGV – German Savings Banks Association). DSGV represents the interests of the Sparkassen Group and is responsible for its strategic direction.