The Green Sheet Online Edition
October 26, 2026 • 26:10:02
Build custom apps for Android payment terminals
Payment providers and ISVs serving unattended, retail and fuel merchants have a new option for developing customer-facing terminal applications while using a separately managed payment application to complete transactions. Transaction Network Services introduced Bring Your Own App (BYOA), a capability that lets operators develop and deploy Android applications on supported payment terminals. TNS manages payment processing, associated PCI compliance requirements, payment and P2PE certifications, and supporting infrastructure, the company stated.
The operator's application initiates a transaction by calling the TNS payment application through a defined payments API. The TNS application handles card capture, PIN collection, encryption and EMV processing. Each operator application must be signed and approved by TNS before it can run on a terminal.
For developers, the arrangement provides an integration point between the customer experience they create and the payment functions TNS supplies. Operators can customize their applications while relying on TNS to maintain the underlying payment infrastructure.
"Operators have historically had to choose between innovating on customer experience or taking on the complexity of payments," said David Hore, senior director, Payments Product Portfolio, TNS Payments Market. "BYOA is designed to remove that compromise."
Hore said customers can build applications that enhance their unique selling propositions while TNS manages the payments, compliance and certification behind transactions.
The capability also addresses terminal management. According to TNS, its architecture separates acquirer keys from terminal keys, enabling operators to switch acquirers or revise rates without updating physical terminals. That flexibility could be relevant to providers supporting fleets of unattended devices, where changes requiring work at individual terminals can add operational demands.
"This is exactly the kind of flexibility unattended operators need to meet the demands of the modern payments landscape," said Michael Johnson, global managing director, Payments Market Business, TNS.
BYOA is available across TNS's Android-based unattended payment terminal platform and supported retail and fuel payment terminals. The company positions it as part of its broader effort to simplify payment operations while enabling customers to develop their own applications.
Providers evaluating the capability can review supported deployment options and integration requirements with TNS. For more information, visit tnsi.com/solutions/payments/orchestrate/. 
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