5 ways to digitalize your business without a POS terminal

You run a shop, a restaurant, a salon, a workshop. Your customers increasingly ask whether they can pay by card or by phone. You know you should say yes — but a bank POS terminal costs 30,000 DZD + 1,500/month, and that holds you back.

Good news: today there are 5 ways to collect payments digitally without spending a single dinar on hardware. Here's how.

1. QR Pay — the simplest, the fastest

You generate a fixed-amount QR code from your phone (or a universal QR stuck to your counter for variable-amount payments). The customer scans it with their payment app, confirms with their PIN, done.

For whom: all shops with a fixed counter (grocer, baker, mini-market, hair salon).

Hardware cost: 0 DZD. You print the universal QR on laminated paper (5 DZD at the local copy shop).

Cost per transaction: up to 1%, sliding down to 0.3% beyond 500,000 DZD, and capped at 1,000 DZD per transaction (vs 1.5-2% at a bank POS terminal). On a 1,000 DZD sale = you pay 10 DZD instead of 15-20.

2. Contactless — one gesture, it's paid

The customer brings their phone close to yours, the contactless payment happens in less than a second. No scan, no menu — one gesture, it's paid.

For whom: shops with fast throughput (checkout queue, petrol station, drive-through). Also excellent for small-amount payments where the QR slows the flow.

Hardware cost: 0 DZD. Your recent Android smartphone or iPhone does the job.

Cost per transaction: identical to QR (up to 1%, sliding, capped 1,000 DZD).

3. WhatsApp PayLink — remote selling

You generate a payment link with amount + description (e.g. "Logo client X — 15,000 DZD"). You send it by WhatsApp, SMS or email. The customer clicks, opens Centeem, pays in 1 tap.

For whom: freelancers (designer, dev, photographer), service providers (plumber, electrician, delivery), Instagram/Facebook sellers, restaurants that deliver.

Why it's powerful: your customer doesn't need to come to you to pay. You eliminate the "stolen delivery cash" risk for delivery restaurants. You stop chasing late payments.

Hardware cost: 0 DZD. Cost per transaction: identical to QR (up to 1%, sliding, capped 1,000 DZD).

4. Offline contactless — when the connection drops

You're in an area without 4G (souk, open-air market, event, hypermarket car park). So are your customers. Online payment needs internet — and internet lets you down.

Centeem's offline contactless payment lets 2 phones sign a transaction locally, without internet. The transaction is synced automatically when one of the 2 phones comes back online.

For whom: street markets, food trucks, events (concerts, fairs), poorly covered rural areas, underground car park.

Hardware cost: 0 DZD. No extra equipment: your smartphone is enough.

5. Employee sub-accounts — multi-till without confusion

You have several employees collecting payments in parallel (restaurant with 4 waiters, store with 3 salespeople). With a classic POS terminal, it's a hassle: a single account, you don't know who collected what.

Centeem lets you create one sub-account per employee, each with their own login. Every sale appears attributed to the employee in your real-time dashboard. You see who collects, how much, at what time.

And for sensitive actions (transaction deletion, transfer to a bank account, employee change), Centeem applies the 4-eyes admin principle: 2 admins must validate. Avoids errors or abuse.

Cost per sub-account: 0 DZD. Unlimited.

Bonus: automatic accounting

All these methods automatically feed your Centeem accounting dashboard. You see:

• Revenue per day / week / month / year
• Breakdown by method (QR / contactless / PayLink)
• Top employees by revenue generated (if sub-accounts enabled)
• PDF or CSV export for your accountant

No more paper account books that go up in flames. Everything is saved, exportable, presentable to the tax authorities.

Convinced? Create your Pro account in 5 minutes or read the Hocine, Oran grocer use case to see how he uses it day to day.