Mastercard and Softpay began collaborating in the Nordics to accelerate enablement of simple and secure card payment acceptance for everyone - driving merchant sales and innovating the checkout journey. By jointly unlocking payment use cases through enabling secure contactless payments without additional hardware, we have created a seamless, fast, secure and flexible payment experience for both merchants and consumers.
The collaboration spans across multiple use cases and verticals such as mobility, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large retailers - equipping merchants with innovative Tap on Phone and self-checkout solutions to accelerate sales volumes and ensuring back up payment capabilities. In 2025, Softpay was admitted to Mastercard’s Global StartPath program, having the opportunity to expand global relationships and, in partnership, tackle ecosystem challenges. Since the program, Softpay has leveraged Mastercard’s broad partner network to expand globally and continue their success beyond Europe.
Transforming in-store payments with SoftPOS
The retail ecosystem is undergoing a seismic transformation. As customer expectations rise — demanding convenience, speed, personalization, and fluid digital-physical experiences — traditional payment infrastructures are struggling to keep up. Retailers must not only match, but exceed, the seamlessness of e-commerce to remain competitive in physical environments.
SoftPOS (Software Point-of-Sale) has emerged as a breakthrough technology enabling this shift. By turning any NFC-enabled Android or iOS device into a secure, contactless payment terminal, SoftPOS eliminates the need for dedicated payment hardware. The result: lower infrastructure costs, improved mobility, and enhanced in-store payments experiences.
The global SoftPOS market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of over 23% through 20301, with Tier 1 retailers accounting for a significant share due to their drive toward agility, efficiency, and customer-centric innovation.
A crucial catalyst for SoftPOS adoption is the PCI MPoC (Mobile Payments on Commercial Off-The-Shelf) standard, which provides a security and compliance framework that legitimizes mobile payment applications for use on consumer-grade devices. This paves the way for mass enterprise adoption across global markets.
