Getting To Grips With ‘PIN On Mobile’ Versus ‘PIN On Glass’
By David Poole, MYPINPAD
Consumers are carrying less cash than ever before. This poses a challenge for the five million small merchants in the UK that are still unable to accept card payments. They risk losing sales, as cashless consumers often abandon their shopping if the merchant is unable to accept card payments.
This issue has spurred a lot of competition to deliver a new generation of versatile payment technologies. However, with many new solutions coming into the payments market, confusion has crept in regarding terminology and the benefits of different technologies.
PIN On Mobile And PIN On Glass Are Not The Same
A case in point is the conflation of the terms “PIN on Glass” (PoG) and “PIN on Mobile” (PoM). I often see the terms incorrectly treated as synonyms, as if the technologies they describe are essentially the same thing — which they are not.
PoG and PoM are distinct technologies with their own features and benefits. Failure to understand the differences between them could mean merchants may not get the payments solution that is right for their business.
What Exactly Is The Difference Between PoG And PoM?
PoG describes the evolution of POS technology and has been around for a long time — traditional payment terminals that have developed from buttons to a glass-based capture mechanism (i.e. a touch screen). These traditional PIN on Glass solutions are expensive and offer no additional functionality when compared to traditional button-based POS devices.
Some PoG terminals, sometimes referred to as a smartPOS, are locked down hardened Android purpose-built devices that are expensive to manufacture and restricted to one device.
PIN on Mobile, however, is an innovative technology designed to offer merchants a cost-effective avenue to card payment acceptance, whilst delivering the same security standards as a traditional POS terminal. PoM enables merchants to use a Consumer off-the-Shelf (COTS) device, such as smartphones and tablets, instead of expensive specialized POS terminals. With PoM a consumer inputs their PIN directly in to the merchants COTS device, with just a small additional piece of equipment to read the card chip (Secure Card Reader). This is more cost-effective than a traditional terminal, resulting in increased adoption.
How Secure Is PIN On Mobile?
In addition to low implementation costs, PoM offers fantastic security credentials. The recently launched PCI SSC standard for PoM ensures a universal gold standard for secure transactions via PoM. A secure, PCI SSC-compliant PoM system ensures that, when the customer’s PIN is entered into the phone or tablet it is isolated and protected immediately — as recommended by the latest PCI SSC standard for Software-based PIN Entry on COTS (SPoC). As a result, merchants can ensure that their customers are able to pay for their goods or services securely, without worrying about their payment details being compromised. With such solutions, merchants can benefit from the same high level of security offered by traditional POS equipment, without the same expense.
Improving Understanding
Hopefully, this sheds some light on the key distinguishing features of these two very different pieces of technology. Each offers its own benefits to meet specific merchant needs and enable them to continue to meet their customers’ changing payment requirements.
David Poole is the Global Head of Mobile POS Solutions at MYPINPAD and is an executive with 20 years at the forefront of new technology and payment processes in the UK and USA. Prior to joining the MYPINPAD team in 2013, Poole was Managing Director at mPOS technology company, Miura, founded to reshape electronic payments and where he oversaw the commercial success of the company for three years.