Mobile ePOS is no longer a concept, but a reality. Belfast-based software company AirPOS today announced that PayPal Here, PayPal’s new mobile chip and pin reader, and PayPal Check-In, PayPal’s payment platform for paying by smartphone, are now available on the AirPOS software platform: a first for European retailers.

Modern merchants depend on retail technology providers to deliver the latest, most innovative technologies to grow their business and AirPOS have long-since been advocates of redefining ePOS for the modern retail world. In 2010 they had a vision; no more clunky terminals screwed to desks, no more queues of cashiers and customers all waiting for their turn to pay and most importantly no more frustration on the busiest shopping days with the children in tow. In short, no more traditional thinking about the in-store environment and how retailers interact with their customers. Rather they foresaw fluid, dynamic, responsive ways to shop and pay, suited to the busy consumer and not constrained by the limitations of the technology the retailer employs.

By 2011 they were almost there, with Android tablets rapidly appearing in the hands of retailers of all shapes and sizes; from cafes to mobile food vans, clothing stores to event bars, hair salons to computer sellers and beyond. Customers came in their thousands, cloud-enabled shops on every corner, examining graphs and getting to grips with their data in the cloud like never before. They launched web stores in a single click, opening their operations up to new markets and new realms of possibility and profitability.

Now the last part of the mobile ePOS puzzle is Here. PayPal Here to be precise. PayPal Here is the mobile payment solution that customers, retailers and technology providers alike have been collectively waiting for. It’s an elegant, simple, pocket-sized device that, when teamed up with the AirPOS platform, provides retailers a complete and affordable mobile point of sale solution. Meanwhile PayPal Check-In allows European consumers to pay via their digital wallet on their mobile phone for the first time, providing a forward thinking and yet simple option for people who are happy to leave the plastic cards at home.

Martin Neill, CEO & Founder of AirPOS said “For us at AirPOS, PayPal Here and Check-In are a crucial piece of our ecosystem for retailers. Cloud ePOS, automated inventory control, multi-channel e-commerce capability and now payments are all part of our retailer platform. We’re delighted that our retailers can start accepting payments with PayPal on AirPOS right here, right now and that shoppers have some smarter and better ways to pay.”

Narik Patel, Director of PayPal Here echoed Mr. Neill’s thoughts by saying that “PayPal Here is perfectly complemented by the AirPOS retail platform, allowing small retailers to sell both in their stores and online using the AirPOS cloud software and our best in the business payment solutions. Modern payment devices deserve modern POS systems and we are pleased to say that by working with AirPOS, PayPal can provide everything that small retailers need to operate their business.”

PayPal Here and Check-In really do represent a quantum leap in mobile payments in the UK and European payments space, opening up the retail world to using tablet devices at the point of sale like never before. Indeed, new research published in November 2013 by the Centre for Economic and Business Research takes a holistic view of mobile payments, predicting that 20 million shoppers will be using their mobile phones to pay for goods and services by the end of the decade. This sort of consumer adoption will not only deliver wide-ranging benefits for the UK / EU economy including reduced fraud, lower transaction costs, easing of cash flow and consumers regaining control of finances, but will also significantly boost the economy of any country that embraces the adoption of these new technologies.

Mr. Neill concluded “The ePOS industry has seen epic disruption is the last couple of years with the rise of cloud computing changing how retailers manage their shops and sales. The one part sorely missing has been a payment processor that matches up, with new thinking and a simpler approach to how payments can be performed. Thankfully PayPal have produced exactly what the market needed. Retailers should rejoice. Now that mobile payment is sorted, we’re going to start thinking hard about what comes next!”