Power Up Your Business with Zeller’s POS Integrations

Here's what you need to know about finding the right EFTPOS terminal. Searching for a next-gen EFTPOS machine that accepts modern payment methods, processes payments quickly, settle funds into your business account as fast as possible, and looks good on your countertop? Finding the right terminal for your business is important – you’ll rely on it for secure, fast cashless payments that keep your cash flow looking healthy. Some terminal providers will lock you into long contracts, with expensive termination fees, so knowing what to look out for is key. How much is it to have an EFTPOS machine? The EFTPOS machine you choose will depend on variables such as your budget, sales volumes, Point of Sale (POS) software, and fees associated with your merchant account. It costs $259 to own a Zeller Terminal outright. There are no hidden fees or charges, and no lock-in contracts. When you sign up for Zeller, you also receive a free Zeller Transaction Account (into which funds accepted via Zeller Terminal are settled nightly) and a free Zeller Debit Card — so you can pay suppliers and make business purchases with ease. Keep reading to discover the nine questions you should keep in mind when comparing EFTPOS terminals. 1. Do I understand the fees? Many business owners don’t realise they are agreeing to pay hidden fees, such as expensive terminal fees, until it’s too late. Sign the dotted line and you could be agreeing to pay a lot more than anticipated for your EFTPOS machine — and lock-in contracts usually come with hefty fees for early cancellation. Otherwise cautious business owners fall victim to hidden EFTPOS terminal fees time and time again. However, these fees are required by law to be disclosed somewhere – you just need to know where to look. Make sure to go through the terms and conditions with a fine-tooth comb; never solely rely on a verbal quote. If you’re already using an EFTPOS machine, check your merchant statement as this will tell you the processing fees and other fees you’re currently paying. It’s also important to remember that, in most cases, if you decide to rent your EFTPOS terminal you won’t own it at the end of the payment period. You’re simply paying for the privilege of using it, and will be left empty-handed when the contract ends. Although renting may look like an affordable option at first, it’s a tactic designed to get business owners to pay far more than what the terminal is actually worth. Zeller Terminal is yours to own for one low payment of $259. There’s no lock-in contract or hidden fees; we know you’ll keep using your Zeller Terminal because you love it, not because you have to. Learn more about Zeller Terminal and whether it’s the right solution for your business. 2. Will it be easy to use? Taking payment is usually the last interaction a member of your staff has with a customer. However, time wasted teaching staff the intricacies of a confusing system is time that could be better spent on other parts of the business. The ease with which staff process a payment affects the customer experience at every business. Your EFTPOS payments terminal needs to be easy for all staff to use, with minimal training. This is especially important if you run a retail store that hires casual staff during peak holiday and sales periods, or in another business that regularly hires new workers. When shopping for an EFTPOS terminal, consider whether it has been designed by a team that understands your business. Are the prompts straightforward? Is the user flow intuitive? Your terminal should feel natural and simple to use. If it is, your staff will save time with every transaction – and you’ll save time training them how to use it. 3. Can I customise it to suit my business? Some EFTPOS payment terminal providers will force your business to work their way. This is related to the point above: if you choose a provider who understands your business, you’ll likely find there’s no need to change your internal workflows. An EFTPOS terminal should fit the way you want your business to work. When selecting a terminal provider, consider how well it fits with your established processes. For example, you might want the ability to: restrict the ability to provide a customer with a refund to a small pool of staff, such as managers charge your customers a surcharge enable tipping customise your receipts Choose a provider that gives you the power to customise the way you accept and manage your payments and you’ll save yourself from needing to retrofit your processes to fit the tool. 4. What happens if my internet cuts out? Your business needs to be able to continue processing cashless payments even during periods of internet outage. You don’t want to have to send your customers to the closest ATM, or have them scrambling for cash. Occasionally, small periods of service downtime will be unavoidable. Your internet provider might be down for routine maintenance or there may be a power cut to your area, or another technological issue may impact how your EFTPOS terminal connects to the internet. However, any period of downtime has the potential to negatively affect your business — the impacted customer may never return. That’s why, when you choose Zeller Terminal, you have the option to switch to another network. If you’re experiencing issues with your Wi-Fi provider, it’s simple to connect via 3G to another network and continue processing payments using your SIM card. 5. How often will I need to charge it? These days, many businesses are run on the go — so a mobile EFTPOS terminal is a must. Cafes and restaurants that take payment from the table depend upon a long-lasting battery to get through the day. For a retail store, a long-lasting battery provides the flexibility to take payments from wherever is convenient for the customer. For mobile services such as trades and beauty technicians, having the ability to take payment on the go saves you the hassle of returning to your computer, sending an invoice, then following up until payment is finalised. It’s essential that the EFTPOS terminal you choose has enough battery life to give you peace of mind that you’ll never miss out on crucial transactions. 6. How fast can I put my funds to work? Depending on which payment services provider you choose to use, you could access your funds the same day you earn them – or you could be waiting upwards of three business days. The speed of settlement can have a big impact on your cash flow. Choose a provider that’s slow to settle, and you may find yourself in the frustrating situation of needing a business loan to tide you over until your funds are released. When you use your Zeller Terminal in combination with your free Zeller Transaction Account , you’ll get same-day settlement for your funds so you can spend using your Zeller Debit Card . Or, if you want to use your existing business bank account , your funds will settle the next business day. 7. Is there setup and ongoing support? Painful setup, hard-to-follow instructions, and uncontactable customer service representatives are headaches you simply don’t need. Some EFTPOS terminal providers are intuitive enough to use out of the box, whereas others come with a booklet of instructions you’ll need to follow. Or, you may be asked to book a technician to manage the setup on-site. Once you’re up and running, having multiple ways to ask for help – whenever you need it — is important. If your business operates in the evening and on weekends, look for a provider that offers extended support hours. If something goes wrong and you need answers fast, you need to feel confident that someone will pick up the phone on the other end. 8. Will it protect my business? Fraud is a risk for businesses of any size. Recurring chargeback fraud , in particular, can be costly for a business. When considering any financial services provider, it’s important to check whether it's backed by a team of security experts. You’re trusting this business to handle your money. Zeller’s Support team monitors transactions round the clock — 24 hours, 7 days a week — to prevent fraud before it happens. Backed up by intelligent machine monitoring, our team works to identify and respond to fraudulent attacks in real-time. 9. How soon can I get it? If you’re ready to start selling your products or services now, choosing an EFTPOS terminal that takes weeks to be delivered is an unnecessary setback. Why eat into valuable time you could be turning a profit? Ideally, your EFTPOS terminal will be available for delivery quickly. Even if you’re not ready to start accepting payments at your business, getting your EFTPOS payment terminal as soon as possible will give you extra time to get up to speed with its features and options for customisation. We offer fast, free shipping anywhere in Australia, for all Zeller purchases. Sign up for Zeller in minutes. Zeller Terminal and accessories can be purchased online from the Zeller Shop with free express shipping and same-day dispatch. Once you’ve considered these 9 questions, you should have a good idea of the non-negotiables you need from your EFTPOS terminal provider. Remember to always read the fine print and understand what you’re really paying for when you sign the dotted line.

If you’re shopping around for a payments provider or a point-of-sale system, you may have come across the term ‘integrated EFTPOS’. In this article, we explain what this technology is and how your business can benefit from integrating with Zeller Terminal. Integrated EFTPOS is a direct connection between your point-of-sale (POS) system and your EFTPOS machine. When these two systems are integrated, sales totals that are rung up on the POS are pushed automatically to the  EFTPOS terminal , eliminating the need for staff members to key in the sales value manually on the machine before payment. With the tap of a button on your register, payment details are automatically transferred to your EFTPOS terminal, ready for your customer to tap, dip, or swipe. To explore the best POS systems available in Australia and find one that suits your needs, check out our comprehensive blog article on the topic. Six ways Zeller Integrated EFTPOS will benefit your business. 1. It reduces human error. An unintegrated EFTPOS machine requires a staff member to manually enter the sales total into the terminal before the payment can be processed. Unavoidably, this process will lead to human error. If a customer is accidentally overcharged, not only do you risk losing their business in future, but it takes time away from your staff to process refunds for incorrect payments. Similarly, if a customer is accidentally undercharged, it is unlikely that you will be able to recoup the lost revenue, and it can lead to frustration and confusion when it comes to end-of-day reconciliation. Integrated EFTPOS eliminates these risks, by removing the need for manual entry into the EFTPOS machine. 2. It makes transactions faster. Integrated payments allow you to serve more customers, faster than ever, by removing unnecessary steps in the payment process. Whether you use a touch screen or a barcode scanner, integrated EFTPOS allows data to be pulled directly from your system, reducing waiting times at the checkout. You’ll also save time at the end of the day. Thanks to two-way communication between your devices, end-of-day reconciliation becomes a breeze, with payment transactions relayed back to your POS automatically. 3. It’s free and fast to set up. Although some merchant services providers may charge upwards of $10 per terminal to integrate with your POS system , Zeller’s integrated EFTPOS solution is free. Similarly, the process of getting set up is simple and self-service. Traditionally, integrating EFTPOS and POS systems has required a third party engineer or integration specialist to arrange a time to visit your business premises in person, with Zeller, you can connect your systems remotely, and in most cases, in less than 15 minutes. 4. You won’t lose sales if your POS system fails. In the event of a POS system outage (or other disruption to your POS system), every other integrated EFTPOS solution will lock you out of your EFTPOS terminal – forcing you to contact their customer service centres in order to get back up and running. We understand it’s critically important that, no matter what, you are still able to process sales at your business. If your POS system suffers a disruption for any reason, you can continue to use Zeller Terminal. Simply toggle on ‘Card mode’, and you will be able to continue processing transactions via Zeller Terminal without any downtime. 5. You have over 600 POS platforms to choose from. Whether you’re using a  cloud-based or on-premise POS  solution, with Zeller, you can be confident that – no matter which POS you choose, or industry you operate within – you’ll get the benefit of integrated payments. Zeller is proud to partner with over 600 POS providers, including leading solutions such as  Abacus , Impos ,  Zii ,  H&L ,  Oracle ,  Whoods ,  Redat ,  Task ,  Hike , plus a long list of others to service a wide range of industries and business sizes. To view the full list of POS providers that Zeller integrates with, visit the  Zeller Partner Hub . Not sure what POS system to choose? Use our Best POS Systems Guide for 2024 to help you find the right provider for your business. 6. You can turn tables faster with Pay at Table. Hospitality businesses using  H&L POS  enjoy the added benefit of Zeller’s innovative  Pay at Table  solution. This integrated technology allows Zeller Terminal to function as an extension of your H&L POS, allowing staff members to view open tables, see total outstanding bills, take payments and close tables — all on one device. Rather than the customer paying at the counter or finalising the bill in the traditional, time-consuming manner, waitstaff can deliver the bill and the mobile payment device, all at the same time. Read our blog article to learn how  Pay at Table  works.

Whether you’re running a small market stall or a multi-venue operation, your point of sale will be the hub of your business. To help you choose the right setup, this article outlines how POS systems work and what you can expect from their hardware and software. What is a POS system? POS stands for point of sale, it refers to the place (in-person or online) where customers complete a purchase. A POS system is the combined hardware and software that is used to facilitate these purchases and assist the business in tracking and managing the sales. Today, POS systems encompass a variety of functions, including (but not limited to): Processing orders Taking payments Tracking inventory Providing sales analytics Generating receipts and order dockets Gathering marketing data Implementing customer loyalty programs POS systems vary greatly depending on the size of a business and the industry it's in, and come in the form of physical devices – such as countertop machines and mobile POS or 'mPOS' terminals – or virtual checkout points via online apps and kiosks for self-service orders. For small businesses, a smartphone or mobile device may suffice, while larger more complex operations may require computer systems, barcode scanners, receipt printers, and more. Read on to learn more about how POS systems work and the hardware and software included. How does a POS system work? There are four main steps involved in the point-of-sale process. Your POS system will use the data generated by the sale to offer you helpful business insights, and identify marketing opportunities. You will be able to understand which products are most popular, when your busiest time of day is, who your most valuable customers are, and more. What hardware is typically included in a POS system? If you operate a food truck or a market stall, you may opt for a mobile POS solution (also known as MPOS) which can be operated from a smartphone, tablet, or mobile EFTPOS terminal. However, for larger businesses, there is a range of POS hardware that can help support your operations. The following are the most typical pieces of hardware that are included in a POS system. Display and computer Many POS systems comprise a countertop computer where merchants can manage transactions, as well as a display that faces the customer. Traditionally, these machines have been bulky monitors with in-built cash drawers, but today, more and more businesses are opting for sleeker tablet-style setups. EFTPOS machine Businesses that process payments in-person, will at the very minimum, require an EFTPOS machine to accept card and contactless payments. These machines are most often supplied by a financial services provider like  Zeller  or a traditional banking institution. For smaller, more agile businesses that don’t want to be anchored down to the checkout counter, smartphone-based card readers such as  Tap to Pay with Zeller App  allow customers to make their purchase anywhere in the store. Cash drawer In Australia today, less than 20% of transactions use cash, which is why many businesses are choosing to go cashless. However, for those still accepting cash, you will need a cash drawer within your POS set up to securely store money securely and provide change to customers. Receipt printer While many modern POS providers are able to send digital receipts to customers via SMS or email, you may choose to offer your customers the option of a paper receipt. Additionally, if you run a hospitality business, you may need to print order dockets for the kitchen. In both cases, you will need a receipt and/or docket printer as part of your POS setup. Barcode scanner For businesses with a large product inventory, barcode scanners are a helpful way to quickly pull product information and add the cost to the checkout total. They help automate the checkout process, creating a faster and smoother customer experience. Plus, barcode scanners integrate with inventory management systems to automatically adjust stock levels. What features can I expect from POS software? Payment processing The most basic and important feature of a POS system is to accept payments. Depending on the needs of your business, this may include any or all of the following: Cash processing Accepting secure online payments through your eCommerce site Accepting credit and debit cards with an embedded chip Accepting contactless payments with mobile wallets (e.g., Google Pay, Apple Pay, Android Pay) Processing card-not-present transactions (ie. when your customer and their card aren’t in front of you so you have to manually enter their card details via  MOTO  or a  virtual terminal ) Inventory management Most POS systems include software that will automatically update your inventory whenever a customer orders a meal, or buys or returns an item. This allows you to easily track stock levels, anticipate when popular items will run out, and stay on budget by purchasing supplies only when necessary. Depending on the needs of your business you can find POS software that: Digitally scans products and counts them Manages stock variations (eg. size, colour, style, etc.) Uses unique serial numbers to track inventory Monitors inventory across multiple locations Automatically reorders popular items Table management For dine-in hospitality businesses, a POS system can also aid in managing floors and tables. Some software allows restaurants to make a visual floor plan, allowing staff to see what tables are occupied, reserved, and available at a glance. POS software can also help staff to make bookings and manage reservations, waitlists, and track table turnover rates to help managers identify peak times and optimise seating arrangements. Sales reporting For businesses to effectively manage their cash flow, sales need to be recorded, categorised, and updated in real-time.POS software can provide daily, weekly, and monthly sales reports, ranging from high-level summaries to comprehensive detailed analytics. These sales and revenue reports can help to identify top-selling products and seasonal trends, revenue trends, purchasing behaviours, return rates, how profitable products or services are, and more. Employee management In retail or restaurant environments, where many employees work hourly, POS systems can simplify time tracking and scheduling. Instead of manually logging hours, employees can clock in and out with a card swipe or code entry, enabling precise tracking of hourly wages. This system also facilitates quick identification of top-performing employees, particularly those working on commission. Customer relationship management (CRM) Some POS software doubles as a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, consolidating customer data and trends and enabling you to track purchase histories effectively. These POS systems will collect customer information (such as name, age, birthday, phone number and email address), associate sales with specific customers, help you implement customer loyalty programs, and integrate with email or SMS marketing tools. What is the difference between cloud and on-premise POS? Traditionally, POS systems have been installed and run on a computer or server on the business premises — referred to as “on-premise”. However, today, more and more cloud-based systems have become available, offering a POS that is entirely decentralised and accessed online. So, the principal difference between on-premise POS systems and their cloud-based counterparts is that the former is installed and run on a computer physically located on the business premises, while the latter is hosted on remote servers and accessed through the internet. To learn about the pros and cons of each system, read our blog article on the differences between  cloud and on-premise POS  here. Let Zeller take care of your payments. While choosing a POS might take some further consideration (read our article on the best POS systems for small businesses here), choosing an EFTPOS provider is easy. Zeller is Australia’s favourite payments platform, trusted by thousands of businesses ranging from sole traders to national franchises. Whether you need a simple, zero-cost mobile solution or a fully integrated EFTPOS machine with the most advanced features (think tipping, bill-splitting, screensavers and more), Zeller’s platform is designed to adapt to the requirements of your business. Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help.