Accept card payments anywhere in the 27 EU countries from a smartphone, a tablet or a Bluetooth mini-terminal — fees 0.75% to 1.75% per transaction, subscription often included, PCI MPoC compliant since 2024.
Compare providersTwo technical families, two usage profiles. The right choice depends on your volume, number of selling points and the need for a physical PIN pad.
Bluetooth, 4G or Wi-Fi mini-terminal (SumUp Air, Zettle Reader, myPOS Mini, Stripe BBPOS WisePad). Compact, autonomous, 3-5 year lifespan, ideal for street vending, delivery, fairs, markets.
App on iPhone (iOS 16+) or Android (NFC + StrongBox), no extra hardware. The merchant's smartphone acts as the terminal — Apple Tap to Pay and Google Pay TtP now cover 26 member states.
Hardware €0 to €49 instead of €200-500 for a traditional terminal + subscription often dropped by neo-acquirers (SumUp, Zettle, myPOS).
Online sign-up, KYC verification within hours, first transaction same day. No banking wait, no 36-month contract.
Charge in store, on delivery, at events, on house calls. SoftPOS even removes the physical hardware.
All listed providers are PCI Mobile Payments on COTS certified (the standard replacing CPoC + SPoC since end 2024) and PSD2 SCA compliant for payments > €50.
Public pricing data from provider websites, verified April 2026. Total cost depends on monthly volume — above €10K/month negotiating with Worldline/Adyen is often cheaper than SumUp/Zettle.
Beyond pricing, verify PCI MPoC coverage, PSD2 SCA and the link to your national certified cash-register software (NF525, KassenSichV, RT…).
PCI Mobile Payments on COTS replaces CPoC and SPoC. All SoftPOS providers must be listed on the PCI Compliance Portal — check the attestation is current.
Strong authentication (PIN or biometrics) is mandatory above €50, or cumulative 5 transactions / €150. Most solutions integrate PIN on COTS (PIN entry on the smartphone screen).
The terminal/SoftPOS must forward transactions to your country's certified cash-register software (NF525 in France, TSE in Germany, RT in Italy, eKasa in Slovakia…). Check the homologated integrations list.
BoostPro AI assists founders and acquirers in selecting the combined certified cash register + mobile POS / SoftPOS in the 27 EU countries — diagnostic, compliance, integration.
Start my free diagnosticYes, provided the provider is PCI MPoC certified. The standard requires: cryptographic isolation of the PIN inside the smartphone secure enclave (Apple Secure Enclave, Android StrongBox), real-time monitoring of attack risks, recent OS updates. Transactions are end-to-end encrypted, just like a physical terminal.
With SumUp at 1.69%: €845/year transaction fees + €0 subscription + €39 hardware = €884. With Worldline (0.85% + €9/month): €425 + €108 + €49 = €582. €302/year saving for volumes ≥ €50K — recompute the break-even based on your actual pricing, which varies by volume and sector.
Yes, Visa/Mastercard/Maestro/V Pay/American Express acceptance is universal in the EU. The customer's card may come from any EU or non-EU country — SoftPOS reads it. The only constraint: your provider account must be open in a country where the service is available (see 'EU countries' column).
Partially. 4G terminals (SumUp Solo, Zettle Reader 2, myPOS Pro) embed a SIM card and run without Wi-Fi. In a complete dead zone, the terminal can store a few offline transactions and send them on reconnection (typically 5 to 20 transactions, cumulative amount ≤ €200). SoftPOS always requires data connectivity (4G/5G/Wi-Fi).
Yes in 95% of cases. Pros: cheaper, instant deployment, management app included. Limits: transactions above €1,000 sometimes capped, some bank terminals offer a 'D+0 cash advance' you lose. Check that your national certified cash-register software is compatible with the chosen provider's API.