Payment Cards & Point of Sale (PoS)

Payment Card (Credit Card)

It is a thin plastic card that can be used to buy items, meet food or restaurant bills, booking of airline tickets etc. Any credit card allows a user to pay later for the items one has bought or the services availed, hence the name credit card is given. This process of payment is known as charging. Charging means that one user had paid for the items his or her credit card by promising to pay when the user had signed the credit card receipt. Credit card are normally issued from a bank or any authorized authority.

Payment Card (Debit Card)

A debit card (also known as a bank card, plastic card or check card) is a plastic payment card, that can be used instead of cash when making purchases. It is similar to a Credit card, but unlike a credit card, the money comes directly from the user's bank account, when performing a transaction. Debit cards usually also allow for instant withdrawal of cash, acting as an ATM card for withdrawing cash.

Credit Cards vs. Debit Cards: What's the difference?

Credit and Debit Cards both can be used when you want to purchase something, but they work differently!

Credit Cards

  • Uses funds from a credit line, must be paid back
  • Offers cashbacks & reward points
  • Good for big purchases & travel
  • Impacts credit score directly
  • Comes with interest rate on the due amount

Debit Cards

  • Uses funds directly from your bank account
  • Offers comparatively fewer rewards
  • Good for everyday routine expenses
  • No impact on credit score
  • There is no interest rate that you must pay

Point of Sale (PoS)

A POS system refers to the combination of hardware and software required to accept and process different forms of digital payments. The hardware includes a card acceptance machine and the software handles the remaining payment methods processing and other peripheral value added services.

There are three ways in which a POS terminal can accept card payments;

Insert

Placing the chip card securely into the terminal reader slot.

Swipe

Passing the magnetic strip card rapidly through the machine.

Tap

Contactless wireless payment instantly using NFC tech.