Raised as https://openvpms.atlassian.net/browse/OVPMS-2291#icft=OVPMS-2291

Most card terminals are provided by the banks (e.g. [1], [2]), but there are a few non-bank providers (e.g Tyro, Windcave).
Terminals typically support debit cards, credit cards and pre-paid cards and contactless. Cards can be mag-strip, chip or contactless. If you go by one bank's data [3] contactless is the predominant payment type.

Credit transactions (mostly Visa and Mastercard) attract a surcharge, but for high volume retail this cost is hidden from customers. In other settings, the surcharge is passed onto the customer, before finalising the invoice.

So for us, EFT means any funds transfer performed electronically, the majority of which in Australia are done via an EFTPOS terminal.

[1]: https://www.commbank.com.au/business/merchant-services/eftpos-terminals/essential-plus.html?ei=ep
[2]: https://www.westpac.com.au/business-banking/merchant-services/eftpos/
[3]: https://www.westpac.com.au/personal-banking/credit-cards/explore/visa-contactless-payments-data/

Thanks Tim. Interesting – so there’s a card-based EFT in Australia? Pretty much anything that hits a terminal is a credit card here in the US (processed via visa / mastercard / amex / discover). Generally still considered a credit card if it’s NFC or contact EMV or MSD – more associated with the network it processes on and the terms of it. Is EFT in Australia perhaps akin to a debit card in the US (need to research this)? There is a “bank card” tender in the US that is plastic based and can process against a terminal… but they’re all still branded Visa/Mastercard (and double branded with ATM networks: Pulse, NYCE, Maestro, etc…, and ironically largely owned at this point by Visa/Mastercard/Amex/Discover). Generally folks consider the lot of these to be closer to “credit cards” though. “EFT” doesn’t generally enter the vocabulary here unless you’re in the payments biz.

Most payments in Australia are done via card (debit, credit) * via EFT. Increasingly, customers tap or swipe the card themselves, so you don't necessarily know what surcharge will be applied.

I suspect we will have to make this a practice preference to be able to set the default payment type.

* https://theconversation.com/australians-are-now-using-cards-more-often-than-cash-to-pay-for-things-81718

We don’t really need to know which credit card is used… but an EFT is a distinct payment tender from credit cards. (My day job just happens to be in the payments biz in the US and Europe.) Most people in the US don’t know what “EFT” means. There is 1 emerging payment tender that may become usable with business that would be classified as an EFT: Zelle. Other than that, there really is no EFT here (possibly Venmo?). In the payments world at least, EFT normally refers to things like Sofort, DirectDebit, possibly ACH etc. So not sure why we’d ever classify a credit card as EFT… totally different payment type. Would be happy to discuss voice if helpful.