EFTPOS

EFTPOS is an Australian brand (operated by eftpos Payments Australia Ltd) that enables businesses to receive electronic payments from Australian customers' bank accounts via debit cards at the POS (point of sale).

It's worth noting that you can only use eftpos cards in a few places outside of Australia, while Mastercard and Visa debit cards can be used overseas.

How EFTPOS works, think of it as a conduit between your customer's bank account and your own. In short, EFTPOS transfers funds from the cardholder's account (debit or credit) and deposits those funds into your merchant account.

EFTPOS machines can take different form factors depending on their use, such as mobile EFTPOS machines, designed to be carried by staff within hospitality venues to take payments on the go. There are also desktop EFTPOS machines, which are ideal for retail counters or patient counters at medical clinics.

How funds are transferred

During an EFTPOS transaction, the acquirer (EFTPOS provider (eg: Tyro)) sends a request to the cardholder's bank to ensure that the funds are available and there are no fraud issues. Once approved, the funds are transferred to the acquiring bank and then to the merchant bank account later that day.

This is all done securely using encrypted data.

How EFTPOS payments work

How funds are processed depends on the type of account the customer is using:

• If using a debit card, chequing or savings account, the transaction may be made through Australia's debit card payment system, the eftpos network (not to be confused with EFTPOS)
• Credit card payments may be made through networks such as Visa, Mastercard®, American Express, JCB, Diners Club or UnionPay (these are all called "schemes")
• Other payment methods such as Apple Pay, Google Pay™ and Samsung Pay work differently. How these payments are processed depends on the card loaded into the digital wallet on your phone, tablet or desktop computer.