QIB and Mastercard launch new payment solution for merchants

By Leandra Monteiro

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), a digital bank in Qatar, has partnered with Mastercard to launch its latest smart payment solution for merchants.

The new QIB SoftPOS app turns an Android Smartphone into a Point-of-Sale terminal and enables secure acceptance of contactless payments on the device using embedded Near-Field Communication (NFC) functionality.

Commenting on the launch, Tarek Fawzi, QIB’s General Manager – Wholesale Banking Group, said, “We are delighted to launch the QIB SoftPOS solution, empowering merchants with an innovative and cost-effective solution for their day-to-day business. The new solution will enable existing and new businesses to accept contactless payments in an easy way as customers are moving to digital channels faster than they have in the past. As Qatar is keen on establishing a cashless society by 2030, the new QIB SoftPOS solution will further contribute to achieve this vision.”

Through the QIB SoftPOS solution, powered by Mastercard, merchants’ Android smartphones can accept contactless transactions from all EMV contactless cards, and NFC-enabled phones with wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, or other NFC-enabled wearables like Apple watch, Garmin Pay or Android watches.

The implementation of the new QIB SoftPOS solution instantly allows merchants to accept payments on their smartphone device upon downloading the application. Its benefits include improved scalability by providing easy access to multiple users, and increased cost efficiency by eliminating the need to purchase new hardware and leveraging the smartphones already in circulation, making it a cheaper and simpler way for merchants to benefit from electronic payments.

Erdem Çakar, Country Manager, Qatar, and Kuwait, Mastercard, said, “We are delighted to join forces with our partners at QIB as we mark the next era in innovation and access for merchants across Qatar. Omnichannel solutions like QIB SoftPOS allow businesses of all sizes to tap into the limitless potential of the digital economy. We will continue to partner with the public and private sector alike as we work towards our goal of connecting 50 million MSMEs globally to the digital economy by 2025.”