Turn your smartphone into a card terminal – SumUp launches first proprietary Chip & PIN device in Europe

Mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) company SumUp has recently announced the launch of the first proprietary mobile Chip & PIN device of an mPOS provider in Europe. The device, called PIN+, is available in Poland and Switzerland before being rolled out across Europe in countries including the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain in the following weeks. PIN+ will cost £79.

Acording to the company press release, “SumUp’s proprietary technology is the first in the world to cover the whole payments process including the Chip & PIN card terminal, Android and iOS mobile apps, a payment platform with fully certified EMV processing technology, risk and anti-fraud solutions and operations systems”.

SumUp developed and built PIN+ in less than 18 months after being unable to find an existing mPOS Chip & PIN device that met the company’s strict requirements for small and medium sized merchants.
By building PIN+ in-house, SumUp says that has been able to achieve an unrivalled cost position and can guarantee that PIN+ is one of the most secure and intuitive Chip & PIN devices on the market today. SumUp will pass on savings to merchants by offering low transaction rates.

Furthermore, company mentioned that PIN+ is also the first Chip & PIN device to offer users the choice between Bluetooth Low Energy and a cable connection. “This ensures an unrivalled level of reliability for merchants in any environment and can be used to process a large volume of transactions.”

It will accept all major debit and credit cards, including Visa, VPAY, MasterCard® and Maestro® and is compatible with iOS and major Android devices. Transactions will continue to be charged at 1.95% in the UK with no monthly or per transaction fees – one of the lowest rates on the market.

Daniel Klein, CEO of SumUp, said: “The launch of PIN+ across Europe is a big milestone for SumUp. Our mission was nothing less than to create the one Chip & PIN device that will empower the world to accept card payments.

“No vendor could have supplied us with a Chip & PIN device to meet our strict criteria for reliability, design and security, along with a user experience that is so intuitive that even merchants who have never accepted card payments before can start selling immediately without having to read a manual. In short, PIN+ is the easiest and safest Chip & PIN device to use with a mobile phone or tablet.”

Caroline Drolet, Head of Mobile Point of Sale at Visa Europe, said: “SumUp PIN+ is precisely the type of innovation that is needed to bring secure Chip & PIN mPOS technology to the wider public. A device of this kind, specifically tailored to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses will enable the convenience of card payments anywhere and we therefore applaud SumUp’s initiative.”

PIN+ has also gained MasterCard MPOS Program certification and is therefore recommended for use in a mobile environment.

Patricia Bateson, Senior Business Leader at MasterCard, commented: “The launch of SumUp’s Chip & PIN device will help broaden and transform commerce opportunities for small merchants, allowing them to grow their business. SumUp’s new solution converts every device into a commerce device and illustrates the seamless transition from cash to card payments.”

The roll-out also marks the expansion of SumUp into Poland and Switzerland, bringing the total number of countries in which SumUp is active to 14. SumUp’s move into Switzerland is in partnership with UBS. The bank will offer PIN+ to its entire merchant customer base.

David Rickenbacher, Product and Market Development, Transaction Banking at UBS, said: “We are excited to work with SumUp on bringing its newest technology to Switzerland. We believe that there is huge appetite for this type of Chip & PIN technology and we are confident that PIN+ will be very appealing to our customers as well as the wider Swiss market.”