In an exclusive conversation with Fintech Business Asia, Suzanne Waddell, Director of Business Initiatives & Product at Talus, discusses the growing shift towards software-based payment acceptance and the evolving needs of mobile and field-service businesses. She explains how Talus’ ReadyPoint platform transforms smartphones and tablets into complete mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) solutions, combining payment processing, business management tools and secure Tap-to-Pay capabilities. Waddell also shares insights into the role of partnerships with Samsung and Ingenico, the importance of merchant-centric services, and how AI and SoftPOS technology could shape the future of commerce. 

Q: What market needs led Talus to develop ReadyPoint, and how does turning a smartphone or tablet into a complete mPOS solution change the way merchants manage payments and daily operations?

A: First, analysts believe SoftPOS will likely represent nearly half of deployed payment terminals in less than five years. Second, a complete business operating suite, consisting of payments, inventory, customer management, reporting, cellular connectivity, chat support and everyday operations in one mobile and web application, is very liberating and powerful for businesses.

Third, Talus has deep payments and merchant services experience. We have been reselling POS and terminal solutions for decades and our customers and integration partners helped us recognize that The Future of Payments is Simple, Flexible &

Connected. Traditional payment systems fall short because they are:

• Complex by Design - Slow onboarding, disconnected systems, and painful installs

• Hardware-Bound - Tied to fixed payment terminals that limit flexibility
• Operationally Inefficient - Clunky workflows that frustrate staff and customers
• Hard to Trust - Hidden fees, surprise price increases, and funding holds

Fourth, retailers and mobile businesses approached Talus envisioning a customer centric experience. They want to leverage devices they already use to make voice/video calls, publish and engage with social media content, check email, text employees, scan bar codes and RFID tags and accept payments. They want to meet customers wherever they are without being constrained by checkout counters or dedicated single-use mobile hardware.

Finally, retailers and mobile businesses need an affordable way to run their operations while improving both employee and customer experiences.

Q: ReadyPoint combines payments, inventory management, customer engagement, and business insights on a single device. Which of these capabilities are proving most valuable to merchants, particularly mobile and field-service businesses?

A: Mobile and field-service businesses value ReadyPoint because it:

• Combines payments, inventory, customer engagement, and reporting in one connected system

• Works on familiar smartphones, tablets, and computers with unlimited talk, text, and data

• Requires no specialized hardware or complex training

Mobile businesses love the ability to meet their customers wherever they are:

• To take payments anywhere the sale happens—at the checkout counter, on the sales floor, curbside, at an event or out in the field

• With multiple ways to accept a transaction, including payment link, QR code, manual entry, and Tap-to-Pay

• Using devices that naturally fit in a pocket or apron, or at countertop setups
• Providing a more flexible checkout experience
• With eSIM and Wi-Fi connectivity to keep accepting payments when conditions change

Field-service businesses love that they can build a fully customizable product catalog to include time, materials, and service plans with whatever options, modifiers or categories they need. Customers can easily be added to ReadyPoint on mobile or web, and office workers or field technicians can build and save carts for appointments by day, or week, based on the service request or installation order. After the work is complete, technicians open the customer's saved cart, finalize the order based on actual parts and services used, and present the tablet or phone for Tap-to-Pay processing with digital signature. Receipts are sent to customers via email or text. Field-Service business owners appreciate ReadyPoint's streamlined workflows and being able to use devices that their technicians find intuitive to use and easier to keep track of than card reader attachments and dedicated payment terminals. They like saving money from operational efficiencies and by qualifying for tap on phone card present interchange rates instead of chasing down unpaid invoices. Talus, merchants, whether mobile, field-service or other business type, repeatedly tell us that their employees and customers are much happier with ReadyPoint than their previous payments solution.

Q: Security is critical as smartphones become payment acceptance devices. How does the integration of Ingenico’s PCI MPoC-certified SoftPOS technology help Talus deliver secure Tap-to-Pay experiences?

A: Security is foundational when a smartphone becomes a payment acceptance device. Talus addresses this by integrating Ingenico’s PCI MPoC-certified SoftPOS technology, with MPoC Attestation & Monitoring serving as a core part of the security architecture. Before a device is trusted to accept payments, the SoftPOS environment can be evaluated through attestation to verify that the device and payment application meet the required security conditions. That security posture is not simply established once and forgotten, it is continuously monitored as part of the payment acceptance environment.

At the transaction level, the SoftPOS security architecture is designed to ensure that the payment environment remains in an acceptable trusted state when payment is initiated and processed.

Attestation and monitoring provide an additional layer of protection by helping identify changes to the device or application environment that could compromise payment security.

This gives Talus a strong security foundation for Tap-to-Pay. The device is evaluated, the payment environment is monitored, and the transaction is processed within a PCI

MPoC-certified acceptance architecture. The result is a Tap-to-Pay experience that combines the convenience of a smartphone with security, controls, and ongoing monitoring expected of a modern payment acceptance solution.

Q: How does the partnership with Samsung and Ingenico strengthen ReadyPoint’s ability to provide merchants with reliable hardware, secure payment acceptance and a flexible mobile experience?

A: This partnership brings together powerful proven payment technology, advanced security, rugged devices, and desirable business-management tools. Familiar Galaxy devices are protected by Samsung’s security platform with Ingenico Tap-to-Pay secure payment acceptance directly from NFC compatible devices. ReadyPoint is practical for what businesses need today and can be customized to help them expand and grow. It simplifies more than checkout. ReadyPoint reduces the number of systems and relationships a business has to manage. Fewer vendors. Clearer pricing. Real support.

Q: Talus highlights dedicated merchant accounts, instant onboarding and U.S.-based  support as key differentiators. How are merchants’ expectations around onboarding, service and risk management changing in today’s payments market?

A: There is a strong desire and trend towards everything being simple and effortless. Many of ReadyPoint's competitors have done this well; however, not with individually underwritten accounts, risk management, fair and transparent pricing, and human support that understand payments and is readily available when needed.

Talus has deep payments and merchant services experience. We listen to our prospects and merchants to understand the challenges they experience with competitors. Most tell us the same stories:

• “Over time my statement grew to a ten percent effective rate with numerous fees Ido not understand”

• “I cannot get anyone to respond to me quickly when I need support”
• “Sometimes my funding is held, and I do not know why”
• “It took me two weeks to process a refund for a customer”
• “My account was closed unexpectedly even though I was in good standing”

ReadyPoint starts with a delightful digital merchant application experience and auto approval, that most businesses can complete in about 10 minutes. They can get started with the web application immediately and usually receive the Galaxy device(s) they selected the next day.

ReadyPoint runs on smartphones, tablets and PCs that people already know how to use, so businesses can get started quickly. No complex installations, activations or training is required.

Differentiators include:

• Connectivity, devices, payments, and business software bundled altogether rather than trying to piece everything together yourself

• Individual merchant account versus payfac sub-merchant status subject to pooled risk actions (e.g. account shutdowns, increased reserves, delayed funding, etc.)

• Fair, transparent pricing based on individual businesses risk profile instead of paying a premium to subsidize higher risk pool members and arbitrary junk fee assessment

• 24/7 chat, email, or phone support from U.S.-based payments professionals rather than hard-to-understand offshore agents, non-responsive or delayed and often incomplete email replies, or scripted chat responses that frequently miss the mark

Q: Looking ahead, how do you expect mobile POS and Tap-to-Pay technology to evolve, and what role will ReadyPoint play in Talus’ broader strategy for omnichannel payments and merchant enablement?

A: SoftPOS is projected to represent nearly half of all deployed payment terminals within the next five years, accelerating a massive wave of hardware dematerialization. As the need for external Bluetooth card readers and other payment “dongles” declines, businesses can increasingly leverage software-only acceptance to reduce or eliminate the cost and complexity of traditional fixed payment hardware. But the evolution of mobile POS and Tap-to-Pay extends well beyond simply replacing a terminal. The next generation will be defined by higher performance through advances in NFC technology, expansion into self-service and semi-attended environments, and new payment experiences enabled by biometrics, wearables, and AI. The result is a fundamental shift in how payments are deployed. Any smart device can become the terminal, while AI increasingly transforms that device from a payment endpoint into an intelligent commerce platform—anticipating needs, simplifying interactions, and making the payment experience increasingly invisible to both the merchant and consumer.

We recognize the necessity to provide merchants and their customers with the ability to pay for products and services with methods that they prefer in an effortless user interface and experience. Integrators, original equipment manufacturers and cellular carriers are taking notice of ReadyPoint and are eager to position themselves in the

Mobile POS space. Our APIs and SDKs make it easy for integrators to create fully embedded, secure and compliant omnichannel payment and merchant enablement. The Talus platform and ReadyPoint will continue to evolve with additional ways to pay, value-added services, and more.