Tap to Pay vs Traditional EFTPOS Terminals: What's the Difference?

Two Ways to Take a Card Payment

Most business owners are familiar with the traditional EFTPOS terminal — a dedicated card machine that sits at the counter or gets carried table-to-table. In the last couple of years, a second option has become available: Tap to Pay, sometimes called SoftPOS, which turns a regular smartphone into a contactless card payment terminal, with no separate hardware needed. Interest in Tap to Pay NZ and Tap to Pay Australia options has grown quickly as more businesses look for ways to accept cards without buying extra hardware.

How Tap to Pay Actually Works

Tap to Pay uses the near-field communication (NFC) chip already built into modern smartphones — the same technology that lets a customer tap their card or phone. In effect, it can turn your phone into a card machine: a merchant with the right app installed can accept a contactless card or mobile wallet payment by simply holding the customer's card or phone near their own device. Using your phone as an EFTPOS machine this way means no card slot, no separate terminal, no extra hardware to carry, charge, or maintain.

Where Each Option Makes Sense

A traditional EFTPOS terminal remains the standard for a fixed counter or till, especially in venues that need to support chip-and-PIN or higher-value transactions with a dedicated device built for exactly that job. Tap to Pay tends to make the most sense in situations where a dedicated terminal is inconvenient or overkill: a market stall, a pop-up event, a food truck, a mobile trades business taking payment on-site, or simply as a backup during a rush when the main terminal is tied up.

What to Ask Before Choosing Tap to Pay

Because Tap to Pay is newer than traditional EFTPOS, it's worth checking a few specifics with any provider before relying on it: which phones and operating system versions are supported, whether there's a per-transaction limit, which acquiring bank or payment processor the transactions run through, and which card types are accepted (some Tap to Pay implementations handle Visa and Mastercard but treat Amex differently, or not at all). A provider that can answer these clearly — and ideally point to PCI DSS compliance for how card data is handled — is one worth taking seriously.

Where Aimer Fits In

Tap to Pay is one of several payment options available through Aimer, alongside integrated EFTPOS terminal support (Verifone, Windcave and Smartpay in New Zealand; Tyro and major banks' terminals in Australia) and native Alipay and WeChat Pay support. For businesses evaluating whether Tap to Pay suits a specific use case — a second till during peak hours, an off-site pop-up, or a mobile service — it's worth talking to the Aimer team about current device compatibility and setup for your situation.

FAQ

Is Tap to Pay the same as SoftPOS?
Yes — "SoftPOS" is the more technical/industry term, while "Tap to Pay" is the name most commonly used by payment providers and customers for the same technology: accepting contactless card payments directly on a smartphone.

Can I really turn my phone into a card machine?
Yes — that's the basic idea behind Tap to Pay. With the right app, a compatible smartphone can accept a contactless card or mobile wallet payment without any separate card machine, though it's worth confirming device compatibility and transaction limits with your provider first.

Does Tap to Pay replace a traditional EFTPOS terminal?
Not necessarily — many businesses use both, keeping a traditional terminal at a fixed counter and using Tap to Pay for mobility, overflow during busy periods, or off-site sales.

Is Tap to Pay available in both NZ and Australia?
Tap to Pay NZ and Tap to Pay Australia offerings are both expanding as more payment providers roll the technology out — availability and supported devices vary by provider, so it's worth checking current coverage for your specific market.

Is Tap to Pay secure?
Reputable Tap to Pay solutions are built to the same card network security standards as traditional terminals and should be backed by PCI DSS-compliant payment processing — it's worth confirming this with any provider before relying on it for regular transactions.