Nets, part of Nexi Group, and Tapaya have announced an agreement to develop a SoftPOS service for merchants across the Baltic region. The service will let businesses of every size turn a phone, tablet or kiosk into a payment terminal and accept contactless payments with Tap to Pay, with no extra hardware.
You can read the original announcement on nets.eu.
Who does what
The split is simple, and it is the model Tapaya was built for:
- Tapaya provides the software that turns ordinary devices into certified payment terminals.
- Nets Baltics processes the transactions, backed by its service levels and its responsibility for meeting PCI and card scheme requirements.
Together, that means a merchant in Tallinn, Riga or Vilnius will be able to accept payments on a device they already own, running on the processing infrastructure of one of Europe's leading payment companies.
The two companies also plan to look at further opportunities in the wider Electronic Cash Register (ECR) ecosystem, where larger-scale card acceptance lives.
Why SoftPOS, and why now
Nets cites projections that global SoftPOS transaction value will grow from $23.9 billion in 2025 to $540 billion by 2030. The reasons are practical:
- For merchants, SoftPOS is quick to set up and costs less than traditional terminal hardware. In store, it frees staff from the checkout so they can serve and take payment anywhere on the shop floor.
- For consumers, it means paying by card or phone with more businesses, including the ones where a dedicated terminal never made sense: market stalls, plumbers, gardeners, taxis.
Kalle Vaalma, CEO of Nets Estonia AS and Head of the Baltic region, points to a broader shift towards self-service: supermarkets, car parks, fast-food restaurants and train stations are all moving payments onto kiosks and self-service devices, and SoftPOS makes that acceptance more accessible.
For our CEO, Laura Ďorďová, the partnership brings Tapaya's vision closer: accepting payments should be "as simple as turning on a light". Combining Tapaya's SDK with Nets' processing means merchants can get started in four steps: onboard, download, transact and get paid.
Launching in 2027
Nets and Tapaya plan to launch the SoftPOS service to merchants in the Baltics from the beginning of 2027.
Partners can onboard with Tapaya today
The merchant launch is in 2027, but partners don't need to wait for it. Tapaya is onboarding partners now.
If you are a POS or ECR vendor, a vertical SaaS platform, a marketplace, a bank or a fintech, you can start building with Tapaya today:
- Sign up and get API keys on the Tapaya platform, with sandbox access from day one and no sales call required.
- Embed the SDK into your own phone, tablet or kiosk app, under your own brand. Your merchants see your product, not ours.
- Leave the hard parts to us. Certification, card scheme connections and compliance come built in underneath.
Start with the partner overview, go straight to the documentation, or talk to us about bringing Tap to Pay to your merchants in the Baltics and beyond.