What is a Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminal?
A Point-of-Sale (POS) terminal is a hardware system for processing payment of cards at retail sites. A software is integrated into the hardware to read magnetic credit and debit card strips. The next generation of POS systems is comprised of portable devices (i.e. not counter-anchored terminals), either proprietary, or third party, and contactless capabilities for emerging mobile payment forms.
POS terminals are in reality just computers running a software s
