BlueStar Retail & Hospitality Newsletter Q1.26

Bluestar has historically delivered every part of the POS solution to our partners except payments. With payments now added, we can finally offer a true end to end solution—a single, streamlined source that reduces freight and admin costs while simplifying logistics for our resellers.

The payments landscape has evolved much like the AIDC market: moving from early DOS-based proprietary devices, through Windows CE, and now into the modern Android era. This shift toward smart, connected devices makes our expansion into payments both timely and strategically aligned with broader industry transformation.

This quarter, we’re announcing our new partnership with PAX Technologies to launch our payment offering. PAX Technologies is the world’s second largest provider of Android-based payment devices.

This partnership give Bluestar a comprehensive, competitive payment portfolio designed to meet the needs of our partners. Our POS Business Development Team is ready to discuss your payment requirements and help shape your payment proposition. Please reach out to your Account Manager or POS BDM to learn more about how we can support your growth.

PAX is well‑known for its wide range of Android‑based payment terminals, but two devices stand out for retail and hospitality deployments.

The A920 Pro is PAX’s flagship handheld: sleek, modern, and built for fast, on the go payments. With its large 6.5” display and premium design, it’s ideal for tableside ordering, queue‑busting, pop‑ups, outdoor service and high‑end hospitality environments.

The A35 is perfect for fixed till points and self‑service areas. Compact but powerful, it supports chip & PIN, contactless, magnetic stripe and QR payments - making it a reliable, space saving choice for busy stores.

Why PAX?

• Future‑ready hardware built on modern Android SmartPOS, including new Android 14 models designed for speed and security
• MAXSTORE device platform with more than 15 million connected devices for remote updates, app pushes and full estate management — reducing on‑site support
• Fast, simple deployments thanks to pre‑configured hardware and easy central management

While this edition focuses heavily on card and digital payments, we shouldn’t overlook the bedrock of payments – CASH! Cash drawers remain a vital part of the in‑store payment experience, and the latest solutions are smarter and more flexible than ever.

Traditionally, cash drawers have been viewed as a simple hardware add‑on with durability and size as the main considerations. Today however, there are intelligent solutions that can be activated remotely rather than hardwired, and even drawers that can report how much cash they contain in real time. These innovations are every bit as exciting as the latest digital payment solutions(or at least we think so).

The NetPRO solution from APG is ideal for hospitality environments where mPOS is widely used. Multiple wireless devices can share a single drawer, ensuring you can still accept cash when customers prefer it over card. For added security, every drawer opening is logged, and options such as automatic CCTV camera activation or SMS alerts can be enabled when the drawer opens. By combining handheld mobile devices with a single shared cash drawer, you can minimise counter space and still manage ordering and payment efficiently without a traditional fixed POS lane.

APG’s SMARTtill solution is beneficial for a wide range of businesses looking to cut the cost of cash handling and strengthen loss prevention. The drawer automatically counts the cash using finely calibrated weighing technology and sends this data to a central dashboard. This enables remote monitoring and reporting, while significantly reducing the time staff spend on manual cash counts in‑store.