Point of Sale

POS

POS is short for point-of-sale. The point-of-sale can refer to various locations. It is classically assumed that the point of sale is the location where the consumer makes his purchase decision and acquires and pays for his goods or services. However, this was viewed differently before the introduction of the internet and before the E-Commerce wave. Back then the POS was the display shelf and the cash register of a brick-and-mortar retailer or supermarket. However, the POS had in the meantime acquired a much deeper meaning. The payment industry no longer exclusively refers to the POS as the cash register station itself, but instead to the terminal device at which the goods or services are paid. The terminal device accepts Credit Cards or EC cards. This is referred to as the so-called POS terminal. POS terminals are used world-wide and conveniently process cashless money transfers.

EPOS

But the point of sale is not only located at brick-and-mortar retailers. An Online Shop also has a point-of-sale. In this case it is referred to as EPOS. An EPOS does not require a POS terminal that needs to swipe an EC card or credit card. Accordingly, an EPOS no longer uses hardware. The payment recipient uses a virtual POS in this case. In order to use an EPOS, the payee must authenticate with the appropriate card (typically a credit or debit card) at the provided POS. The payment is processed fully automatically following authentication. Many shop operators use a Payment Service Provider for this process step to keep the effort per transaction as low as possible. The clear-cut advantages of POS payment are readily apparent. Cashless payment in the internet with credit cards or EC card is only possible with an EPOS. In addition, the transactions are generally completely secure and entail very little risk for the recipient or payee. Moreover, the transaction time is shorter than with classic fund transfers. In addition to security for customers, merchants have the clear-cut advantage that the POS method includes a payment guarantee. Customers (generally) do not incur fees for POS payments within Germany. Depending on the bank, fees may be incurred only for transactions processed abroad. However, merchants are charged a fee for using the POS system. Merchants pay a standard percentage of 0.3% for each transaction. However, merchants pay a minimum of 8 cents per transaction.