We are in the planning stages for developing an internal POS system and are at a point where we need to choose a processor and hardware that will allow us to accept magstripe, chip & pin as well as contactless and possibly other payment options (if available).
I know Lightspeed uses Cayan and we’re getting information from them, does anyone have any experiences (with Cayan or any other providers) to share? Roadblocks? Tips?
Thank you all in advance.
We use iZettle in our cafe and use the pro version of their POS software running on an iPad. They do have an extensive API that you could hook into via your own software. Their card reader is fast and accepts contactless, chip and pin etc as well as Apple Pay.
Thank you @Paul Finer, I’ll take a look at their API. We are not looking for a prebuilt solution so their POS software would be out.
As a developer myself, I understand where you probably coming from, but be aware that PCI compliance is a major factor here (actually THE major factor). What you want to do is use a SDK which itself is PCI compliant and never touch any of the account data directly in your program. Make the SDK perform all of that and make them certify the PCI compliance.
What SDK and options may be available to you will also depend partly on the merchant processor.
As one example, there is a company called Payworks which has a SDK that integrates with Stripe and is on my roadmap to consider for a project later this year. But no firsthand experience with them yet. So I’ll be watching replies to this thread closely. 
@Douglas Handy PCI compliance is, of course, essential. I will look at Payworks as well. I don’t want to process cards in-app anyway, and I’d much rather put the impetus of storing and deleting things like credit card numbers and other data.
It seems that there are two categories of processors out there now. Those who (for in-person POS) only offer their own integrated solution and those who have an API of some sort to hit. Reading through Cayan seems to be along the lines of what we need where it appears that they manage the sensitive data, I’m just trying to keep my eyes open and head on a swivel before we commit to any one service.