Fintech firm BharatPe has ventured into Point of Sales (PoS) business, according to two sources. The firm focuses on Merchant specific QR code-based payments and is now competing against established enterprises like Pine Labs, MSwipe, Innoviti, Jio, PhonePe and Paytm.
“The PoS machine will be called Bharat Swipe and won’t charge any fee from merchants. The PoS machines have already been deployed at about 1,000 merchants. Besides zero merchant discount rate or MDR, it won’t charge any sort of fee including rentals,” said one of the above stated sources.
The new PoS service of the firm is quite identical to its core business, QR-code based payments. Even though BharatPe has competitors like Paytm, it has garnered a considerable market share and has raised $140 million from investors like Ribbit Capital, Insight Partners, Sequoia Capital and Steadview.
According to the second source, “BharatPe is mirroring the same strategy – not to charge anything from merchants in PoS business as it does with its QR code-based payments. By waiving off all kinds of fees, it will give a tough fight to existing players.”
The traditional PoS companies will have to face competition from two well-established players: Paytm and BharatPe. Paytm launched an all-in-one Android PoS device for merchants in February this year. At present, Paytm charges 0.5% and 2% MDR on debit and credit cards while 3% on Amex credit cards. It also has a monthly rental of Rs 900 for its PoS machines.
The unique selling point for BharatPe is that it charges no fee from the merchants and it has made charges for QR payments zero even before the government. They are also pushing the same feature for credit and debit cards. The launch of this new venture comes at a time when half the world is still confined to their houses which has majorly affected the PoS industry.