National Commercial Bank (NCB) has added another fintech product with the roll-out of its ePOS tap-on-phone solution, with which it hopes to revolutionalise payments for small and medium-sized clients.

NCB ePOS, said to be the first in the English-speaking Caribbean, targets mainly micro and small business owners seeking a payment option that will simplify the transaction process as it optimises the way they sell and operate.

“We are launching ePOS as a continuation of our digital strategy as the bank continues to ensure that we have the right solutions for our very diversified customer base. In offering this technology we want to help our SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) customers to have the tools needed to increase their revenues and to never miss a sale. By downloading the app, SMEs will now be able to transform their mobile devices into a card machine,” Gregory Peart, head of merchant services at NCB, said, while sharing details about the solution with the Jamaica Observer, ahead of its official launch, expected to take place later today at the bank’s Phoenix Avenue Wellness Centre.

“As the product scales and we onboard new features, we will also be looking to see where there are opportunities for our larger customers, but we are starting with the SMEs as they are usually quicker to adapt to new technologies,” he said.

Tap-on-phone, which allows for contactless transactions, is used by businesses to accept payments from cards or mobile wallets right from their near field communication (NFC)-enabled devices. With no extra hardware required, businesses can take advantage of this on-the-go solution to enable quick and convenient payment options, accepting digital payments anywhere and at any time.

Dubbed a game-changer in emerging markets, the technology stands to benefit particularly those small retailers, helping them to significantly reduce the cost for handling payments, eliminating the need for investment in purchasing and managing older data-phones or card machines used at point of sale.

Deemed a more affordable option, the solution which currently attracts no monthly rental fee, Peart said, will remove various fees associated with the use of other card machines. “For mPOS or those smaller mobile machines this will be about $1,000 plus GCT per month and if they have the regular card machine, this could be almost $4,000 per month.”

Allowing for tap of both Visa and Mastercard products and others to come, ePOS is being pushed as a more “efficient, eco-friendly, easy-to-use, economical, point-of-sale solution.

“The ‘e’ represents a number of great things that a business is looking for and we are making sure to deliver on them through our tap and go solution,” Peart said, as he noted that a significant level of capital investment was thrown behind the technical support and enhanced security features build-out of the technology.

Enticing SMEs to what he describes as an “intuitive solution”, the merchant services head said it will deliver on all the convenience and cost-saving benefits.

“Customers can expect fast payments for transactions being done as we pay seven days a week and as fast as next day. They can also expect reporting dashboards to get a sense of how their business is progressing as we help them with reconciliation,” Peart said.

NCB, which has long been a pioneer of payment services, he said ,will continue to be “first to market” as it works to bring more solutions for all its customers.