Building and Stabilizing a Mobile Point-of-Sale Platform Under Real-World Constraints

Customer Snapshot

Industry: FinTech, Payments & Point-of-Sale

Region: South Africa

Platform: Mobile POS application (SureSwipe POSLite)

Engagement Model:

• Mobile App Delivery
• Platform Stabilization
• Ongoing Maintenance

Tech Stack: React Native, Java, PHP (Laravel)

The Challenge

SureSwipe needed to deliver and stabilize a production-ready mobile POS application while navigating technical, resourcing, and delivery constraints.

Key challenges included:

Delivery under technical constraints

• Persistent navigation issues in the React Native mobile app
• Navigation blockers prevented parallel feature development
• Deep technical investigation required to unblock progress

Resourcing and capability gaps

• Limited availability of Redux, Saga, and backend PHP expertise
• Delivery velocity impacted by skill concentration
• Accumulated outstanding delivery hours and technical debt

Quality, reliability, and security pressure

• Need to improve code quality while still moving toward production
• Growing backlog of reliability and security issues
• Requirement to support production releases in a payments environment

Decision uncertainty

• Periods of limited client feedback
• Unclear direction around a potential app rebuild vs incremental improvement
• Required continued progress despite incomplete decisions

The Goal

• Deliver a production-ready mobile POS application
• Stabilize the platform under constrained conditions
• Improve code quality, reliability, and security post-release
• Establish deployment and environment discipline
• Create a foundation for future refactoring or rebuild decisions

Scrums.com Solution

Scrums.com partnered with SureSwipe as a delivery and execution partner, focusing on structure, transparency, and incremental improvement.

Key components included:

Stable technical foundation

• Defined and documented environment configurations
• Implemented controlled backend deployments via GitHub
• Established mobile build and APK generation processes for production
• Ensured the platform could be reliably built, deployed, and supported

Code quality & reliability improvements

• Introduced SonarCloud for automated code analysis
• Identified and prioritized hundreds of reliability issues
• Reduced code duplication and improved maintainability
• Systematically addressed security hotspots

Managing technical blockers & debt

• Escalated navigation blockers early and clearly
• Re-prioritized work to unblock dependent features
• Applied focused after-hours and catch-up efforts where required
• Balanced forward delivery with platform stability

Structured delivery & transparency

• Regular standups and sprint reviews
• Clear tracking of risks, blockers, and decisions
• Transparent communication around capacity, constraints, and trade-offs
• Alignment maintained despite resourcing and feedback challenges

Results

• Mobile POSLite application successfully released to production
• Backend services deployed reliably with repeatable processes
• Core POS functionality delivered and operational
• Significant reduction in reliability and security issues
• Improved visibility into code health and technical risk
• Stronger deployment discipline and environment consistency
• Clear documentation of delivery context, risks, and decisions

The platform reached production while laying the groundwork for continued stabilization and improvement.

Why This Matters

Fintech and payments platforms are often built under imperfect conditions.

SureSwipe achieved:

• A live, production POS platform despite delivery constraints
• Improved technical stability without blocking time-to-market
• Clear insight into technical debt and future rebuild decisions
• Greater resilience in managing constrained delivery environments

This case demonstrates how pragmatic engineering discipline can unlock progress - even when conditions are complex.

Scrums.com helps fintech and payments platforms ship, stabilize, and scale.

👉 Book a Discovery Session