A point of sale terminal is the kit a shop uses to take electronic payments. The customer presents a card or phone, the terminal asks the network to approve the amount, and a receipt confirms success or failure.

Key takeaways

  • Hardware terminals, soft POS on phones, and integrated till software all play the same core role.
  • The merchant’s acquiring bank or payment provider supplies the terminal and settlement.
  • Outages, weak connectivity, or wrong tip amounts cause many everyday payment failures.
  • Contactless and QR modes still settle through the same authorisation path in most setups.