Castles Technology Secures Full PCI MPoC Validation for SoftPOS Portfolio

Castles Technology has secured PCI Mobile Payments on COTS (MPoC) validation for its entire SoftPOS portfolio, including its Attestation and Monitoring service and end-to-end solution. For fintech professionals, this full-stack validation simplifies the deployment of phone-based payment acceptance, offering a modular approach to security that bridges the gap between traditional hardware and software-only solutions.

What was announced

The validation covers three distinct elements of the Castles Technology SoftPOS ecosystem. First, the isolated MPoC SDK allows partners to integrate payment acceptance into existing merchant applications while maintaining control over branding, user experience, and specific business workflows. Second, the Attestation and Monitoring (A&M) Service, which is hosted and operated by Castles Technology, provides the necessary security infrastructure, risk assessment, and device monitoring required by the PCI standard. Finally, the end-to-end MPoC Solution offers a complete deployment model designed to accelerate commercial rollouts for organisations with fewer development resources.

The CastlesPay MPoC Solution specifically supports Android devices, enabling contactless payments and PIN entry directly on smartphones and tablets. This framework is aimed at acquirers, payment service providers (PSPs), gateways, and independent software vendors (ISVs). By achieving validation across all three components, Castles provides flexibility for businesses to either build their own front-end using the SDK or adopt a turnkey solution. The company positions these phone-based acceptance tools as an extension of its existing Android payment terminals and CaSERV managed services, targeting use cases such as table service, queue-busting, deliveries, and field sales where traditional hardware may be less practical or where smaller businesses require a lower-cost entry point into card acceptance.

"SoftPOS has reached the point where the question for many payment providers is no longer simply whether to offer it, but how. Some want to own the entire experience, while others want to get to market quickly or avoid building complex security infrastructure themselves. By validating our software, our monitoring service and a complete solution, we can meet partners wherever they are in that journey and help them bring secure SoftPOS acceptance to market in the way that best fits their business."

Jean-Philippe Niedergang, CEO EMEA, Pacific and LATAM at Castles Technology.

The companies involved

Castles Technology is a global provider of payment solutions, specialising in Android-based acceptance hardware and software. Headquartered in France, the company has established itself as a significant player in the point-of-sale (POS) market, competing with legacy terminal manufacturers by focusing on the flexibility of the Android operating system. Its product line traditionally centres on physical payment terminals, but it has increasingly pivoted toward managed services and software-driven acceptance to meet the needs of a digitising merchant base.

The company operates across multiple regions, including EMEA, the Pacific, and LATAM, providing infrastructure for a wide range of financial institutions and retail partners. Unlike some competitors that focus solely on hardware or purely on software, Castles maintains a dual-track strategy, offering both dedicated payment terminals and the "SoftPOS" technology that turns consumer devices into payment hubs. This hybrid approach allows the firm to serve both high-volume tier-one retailers and micro-merchants who require low-cost entry points into the card payment ecosystem. FF News has tracked the company’s progress across 12 separate reports as it expands its footprint in key European and global markets.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely followed the evolution of the company’s strategy and its research into shifting merchant demands. In September 2026, we covered how Castles Technology Expands French Presence and Managed Payment Services Ahead of NRF Europe. This followed a deep dive into the UK market, where Beyond Acceptance: How Castles Technology is Redefining the UK Point of Sale Market and Beyond Acceptance: Castles Technology Reveals Major Shift in UK Merchant POS Expectations highlighted that merchants now demand more than just simple transaction processing. Additionally, we reported on the company's sector-specific insights in How Self-Service Tech is Reshaping Hospitality Payment Infrastructure: New Castles Technology Research, which examined the rise of self-service and mobile-first solutions in the hospitality industry.

What this means

The move toward full MPoC validation signals a shift in the SoftPOS market from experimental pilots to enterprise-ready infrastructure. By offering a modular SDK alongside a full-stack solution, Castles is putting pressure on pure-play software providers who lack a hardware-grade security background, as well as traditional terminal makers who have been slower to embrace commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) devices. The industry is moving toward a "bring your own device" (BYOD) model for micro-merchants and mobile workforces, but security remains the primary hurdle. This validation addresses that friction, though it raises questions about whether SoftPOS will eventually cannibalise low-end terminal sales or simply expand the total addressable market for acquirers.