Tapaya
Founded 2025 · 6 employees on LinkedIn · 2 known investors
Tapaya provides a drop-in software development kit that turns any device into an in-store payment terminal, enabling developers to accept multiple payment methods without payments expertise. The platform offers multi-method payment acceptance, analytics, and APIs for developers building payment functionality into their applications.
Also known as tapaya.
Investors · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Tapaya is an in-store payments provider whose software turns a standard Android phone, tablet, kiosk or enterprise handheld into a contactless payment terminal, without a dongle or dedicated terminal hardware. Merchants download an app, verify their business online and accept card and wallet taps directly against the back of the device; payouts settle to the merchant's existing bank account on a D+2 cycle. Alongside acceptance, the company provides a web dashboard (platform.tapaya.com) for tracking sales and payments day by day.
The company addresses two audiences. Businesses can take payments on devices they already own, while platforms, integrators, banks and fintechs can embed a single SDK to add in-store payments to their own products under their own brand. Tapaya states it is ready for 36 markets, listing European and adjacent jurisdictions including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Alderney, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
A purpose-built device with Tap to Pay pre-installed and a built-in receipt printer, delivered in 48 hours and managed through the same platform and dashboard, is listed as coming soon.
Business model
Tapaya sells payment acceptance to merchants and embedded acceptance capability to platforms. Merchant pricing starts at a 1.39% blended per-transaction rate with no monthly, setup or hardware fees, with Interchange++ pricing available for higher-volume merchants; platforms and partners receive custom volume-based pricing. Dedicated hardware with pre-installed Tap to Pay is announced as a future offering.
Transaction-based fees: a blended rate starting at 1.39% per transaction, or Interchange++ for higher volumes, with custom volume-based pricing for platforms and partners. No monthly, setup or hardware fees are charged to merchants.
Traction
Public traction indicators are limited to product availability across 36 stated markets, a live merchant platform and dashboard, and open roles across engineering, product and go-to-market. The company reports participating in the Mastercard Lighthouse community at Latitude59 in May 2026 and attending Shoptalk Europe in 2026.
Latest developments
In May 2026 the company published a monthly recap describing fintech event activity, partnerships and product progress in Europe, and reported taking part in the Mastercard Lighthouse programme at Latitude59 in Tallinn. In June 2026, its CCO Elvis Sinijs published commentary from Shoptalk Europe 2026. Dedicated Tapaya hardware with pre-installed Tap to Pay and a built-in receipt printer is announced as coming soon.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography
Market position
Tapaya operates in the SoftPOS / Tap to Pay segment of in-store payment acceptance, competing with terminal-based acquiring by removing dedicated hardware, and serving both direct merchants and platforms seeking embedded acceptance.
Tapaya positions on hardware independence and speed: acceptance on any commercial Android device rather than proprietary terminals, no hardware or monthly fees, fully online onboarding described as taking about 48 hours versus weeks for conventional setups, D+2 payouts, and a single SDK that lets platforms offer in-store payments under their own brand across 36 markets.
Technology
The product is a SoftPOS implementation that uses the NFC hardware of commercial Android devices to accept contactless cards and mobile wallets. Minimum requirements are Android 11 or newer with Google Play services and NFC, covering phones, tablets, kiosks and ERP or enterprise handhelds without lock-in to a specific manufacturer or terminal ecosystem. An SDK exposes the acceptance capability for white-label integration into third-party products, and a hosted dashboard provides payment and sales tracking.
Go-to-market
Self-serve digital acquisition for merchants, with fully online sign-up, business verification and bank connection and no in-person meeting or hardware wait, typically approved within 48 hours. A separate developer and partner track targets platforms embedding the SDK. The company also markets through industry events and content, including participation in Mastercard Lighthouse at Latitude59 and attendance at Shoptalk Europe 2026, plus a product and trends blog.
Two segments: businesses taking payments in person, including restaurants and hospitality, retail, marketplaces, events and pop-ups, salons and studios, and field services; and platforms, integrators, banks and fintechs that want to embed in-store payments in their own products.
Geography
Stated readiness for 36 markets, predominantly across the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Crown Dependencies (including Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Jersey and Alderney). Event activity referenced includes Latitude59 in Tallinn, Estonia, and Shoptalk Europe.
Compiled by commissioned research from 1 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 4
by search overlap
Companies competing with Tapaya for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 2
launches, deals, and filingsBlog post by Tapaya's CCO Elvis Sinijs covering retail trends discussed at Shoptalk Europe 2026.
Tapaya blog reports the team spent a week with the Mastercard Lighthouse community during Latitude59 in Tallinn, including startup pitches and side events.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 1
primary sources listed
- Tapayatapaya.com · web
1 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Tapaya do?
- Tapaya turns any commercial Android device into a contactless payment terminal via SoftPOS software and an embeddable SDK.
- Who are Tapaya's investors?
- Tapaya's investors include BADideas.fund, DEPO Ventures.