Can an ISV's merchants take in-person payments without a terminal?

In many cases, yes. Vertical software now uses tap to pay on phones, so a booking or field-service app can accept in-person card payments on the device the merchant already uses. For the ISV, it extends the payment offer from online to in-store without a hardware rollout, and keeps both channels under its own brand.

Tap to pay on phones

Apple and Google now let a standard phone accept contactless card and wallet payments, with no dongle or dedicated terminal. A booking app, a field-service app or a delivery app can add in-person acceptance on the device the merchant already carries. The schemes certify these SoftPOS solutions under their own programs, with PIN entry on the phone allowed in most markets.

What it gives the ISV

• In-person payments inside its own app, under its brand.
• No hardware logistics: no stock, no shipping, no replacements.
• Both channels, online and in person, on the same merchant account and transaction record.

What to check

Which acquirers and SoftPOS providers are certified in each target market, and for which device platforms. Whether the use case needs features phones do not yet offer, such as high-volume counters or receipt printing. How in-person transactions reconcile with online ones, which should be the same transaction record. For vertical software serving mobile professionals, trades, home services and events, tap to pay is often the first in-person offer that makes sense, and it extends the ISV's payment revenue to transactions it never saw before.