Irfan Rasmally has been the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of payment platform myPOS since 2019, overseeing a rapid growth in customer and product offerings.
The payment platform myPOS was launched in 2014 in London, a couple of years after its two European competitors Zettle and SumUp presented their low-cost card readers.
myPOS had some catching up to do. The company has not had the same brand recognition with its terminals as its Stockholm- and Berlin-based rivals. Yet it has stayed true to doing things its own way, and gradually expanded the customer base for its mobile card machines to more than 150,000 merchants across Europe.
The main draws have been a low start-up cost, no contract lock-in and instant access to funds. Its most popular terminal, myPOS Go, is the lowest-priced card machine with its own SIM card on the market, normally selling for under 30 GBP. The company’s more advanced Android smart terminals allow for app integrations with a wider range of services.
Accepting cards across borders
A defining feature of myPOS from the start was that it did not limit its offering to one country, or even within one territory. myPOS terminals come with a built-in SIM card allowing merchants to get paid in the UK and across Europe, out of the box. It is the only payment company in Europe allowing borderless selling without a special arrangement. The transborder feature is particularly popular with the transportation industry, says Irfan Rasmally:
“Limousine drivers, for example, can collect or drop their clients outside of their countries and take card payments seamlessly. Our solution is also used by merchants who participate in trade fairs and international markets.”
Sellers can charge customers in a local currency, whether that’s euros, pounds or kroner. The funds settle in the myPOS account, and can be accessed with a business Visa card, withdrawn in cash or transferred to a regular business bank account.
Facilitating cash flow
Payment providers typically make funds from card payments available for use after one to two business days. For cash-strapped businesses with plenty of expenses, this can feel like a long wait. Competitor Square, a Silicon Valley pioneer in pay-as-you-go card acceptance, provides its UK merchants with instant-access deposits of funds in their bank account for an additional fee of 1%.
myPOS has made instant settlement to the myPOS account a service-defining feature, says Irfan Rasmally:
“We’re the only payments provider that allows small businesses to get their money in seconds without charging them additionally for this service. So myPOS clients can immediately use their cards at point of sales, online or even withdraw their funds from their e-money account at ATMs to address their urgent business needs on the very same day.”
Transferring funds to a separate business bank account will take a couple of days depending on which country the funds are transferred to, and this carries a fee, but for myPOS merchants, the option to instantly access the funds for expenses through the Visa card is often worth it.
myPOS Carbon is a flexible smart POS terminal with optional apps for more features.
Multichannel selling
Payment terminals for face-to-face selling are still the main products for myPOS. Like an increasing number of European companies, myPOS is counting on the Android smart terminals to dominate the card machine market.
The myPOS Carbon is based on Nexgo N86 with a touchscreen, scanner and the option to use apps for different payment methods and point of sale systems. myPOS developed an all-round point of sale software app in-house, but counts on third parties to make niche tools available to its merchants:
“We are an open platform and any developer can contribute to the myPOS App Market. Our philosophy is to allow openness and customisation because open platforms are the future of integrated payments.”
A built-in app for remote payments, i.e. virtual terminal, comes pre-installed on the terminal. Other online selling tools have been made available to merchants in the last few years. The goal has been to make it easy for the smallest businesses to sell online and get their needs met by the myPOS platform.
To make it as easy as possible, Irfan said they launched a product called myPOS Payment Tag: “It allows merchants to accept online payments without a website. It’s a secure, customisable web page where customers can pay in seconds with their preferred payment method.”
Bulgaria as Silicon Valley
Irfan himself is international, just like myPOS itself. Having grown up in Mauritius, he started his career in payments in the State Bank of Mauritius more than two decades ago before relocating to Europe, working with payment acquirers, payment gateways and mobile commerce in Germany, Luxembourg and the UK, most lately in a pan-European role for myPOS.
Bulgaria is definitely the Silicon Valley of Europe
myPOS operations offices with 350 staff are based out of the Bulgarian capital Sofia and the port city Varna on the Black Sea, the country’s third largest city.
Irfan does not think the company is missing out on the Berlin or London vibe:
“Varna and Sofia make sense from a cost perspective, but also from a talent perspective. Bulgaria is definitely the Silicon Valley of Europe. One just has to look at all the international payment companies which are investing in their workforce in Bulgaria.”
