SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Javelin Strategy & Research today released its inaugural 2025 Small-Business Point-of-Sale (POS) System Scorecard, revealing a fiercely competitive, fast-moving market where POS providers are in a race to out-innovate each other. As small businesses demand more sophisticated, customizable solutions, vendors are evolving their platforms to become indispensable growth tools.
The scorecard evaluates ten leading vendors across four key categories, measuring their ability to help banks, payment processors, and independent sales organizations (ISOs) attract and retain merchant accounts in an increasingly crowded landscape.
Fiserv’s Clover emerged as the Best-in-Class provider, standing out as a powerful client acquisition tool with deep feature customization for businesses across retail, restaurant, and service-based verticals. Its ability to evolve alongside merchants as they scale gives it a competitive edge.
Square and Epos Now earned Overall Leader distinctions. Square boasts a robust suite of features, making it universally appealing across industries—including retail, food service, and personal services. Epos Now scored high for its flexibility and broad adaptability, making it a strong contender for businesses looking for a scalable solution.
“There’s nothing less than an arms race among category leaders,” said Don Apgar, Director of the Merchant practice at Javelin. “The biggest surprise is the sheer amount of research and development going into small-business POS systems. It’s the equivalent of credit card companies targeting college students—the small businesses that thrive will become loyal and highly profitable customers in the long run.”
The 95% of U.S. small businesses with annual sales under $1 million are seeking affordable, intuitive POS platforms that offer more than just payment processing. As these businesses scale, they demand customizable solutions tailored to their workflows. Many POS providers now bundle payment processing services, creating a seamless revenue stream for tech companies without requiring extensive development or support.
As technology costs decline, full-scale POS systems are now accessible to businesses that previously relied on basic payment terminals. Merchants are also prioritizing counter space efficiency, favoring multi-functional POS platforms over single-purpose payment devices.
About Javelin Strategy & Research
Javelin Strategy & Research, part of the Escalent Group, helps its clients make informed decisions in a digital financial world. It provides strategic insights to financial institutions including banks, credit unions, brokerages and insurers, as well as payments companies, technology providers, fintechs and government agencies. Javelin’s independent insights result from a rigorous research process that assesses consumers, businesses, providers, and the transactions ecosystem. It conducts in-depth primary research studies to pinpoint dynamic risks and opportunities in digital banking, payments, fraud & security, lending, and wealth management. Learn more at javelinstrategy.com.
An image accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ca0e04f3-dc11-4389-9818-64b7cbbe879f