Choose your POS payments solution
Airwallex supports four integration paths for POS payments. They mainly differ by how much integration effort you would like to take on.
Standalone terminals
Use Android-based POS payment terminals provided by Airwallex to accept payments. The terminal can operate independently of your point-of-sale, requiring zero integration effort, with manual reconciliation between orders and payments. See Standalone terminals.
Integrated terminals
Connect your point-of-sale system to the Airwallex gateway using the same PaymentIntent workflow as online payments. From your server, you can trigger the terminal and let the shopper complete the payment on the device. This creates a clear link between the order and the payment, making reconciliation easier.
This path uses the Payments Terminals API API (terminal lifecycle plus Process a PaymentIntent in a Terminal API), together with PaymentIntents API for order amounts and settlement. See Integrated terminals.
WooCommerce POS (beta)
WooCommerce merchants in Hong Kong and Singapore (beta) can bind a store to an Airwallex POS terminal for in-person order completion. See Enable POS payments for setup, terminal binding, refunds, and troubleshooting.
Embedded SoftPOS SDK
Convert your existing Android phones, tablets, or kiosks into payment terminals via our SoftPOS SDK, with seamless integration into your shopper-facing apps. See SoftPOS SDK.
Pure BYOD
Bring your own device (BYOD) and terminal estate with API-driven acquiring. You own terminal operations end to end and send payment requests to the Airwallex gateway via the Payments API API—with no dependency on Airwallex-supplied terminal hardware.
- Flexible terminal selection not limited to Airwallex device catalog.
- You handle PAN/PIN and meet applicable PCI and regional compliance requirements.
- Large integration effort—you manage security, encryption, and compliance independently.
Contact your Account Manager to assess eligibility, domestic processing markets, and integration scope before scoping Pure BYOD.
Compare integration options
Use the table below to compare business use cases, integration effort, hardware ownership, and compliance scope across all paths.
| Standalone terminal | Integrated terminal | SoftPOS SDK | Pure BYOD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best suited for | Merchants that only need a terminal on the counter without POS integration. | First-party retail and vertical SaaS platforms that want easy adoption on Airwallex terminals with API linkage. | Vertical SaaS with kiosks, tablets, or phones as the primary checkout surface. | Fintech and payment SaaS seeking global acquiring with domestic processing in multiple countries. |
| Hardware ownership | Airwallex | Airwallex | Client (merchant) | Client (merchant) |
| Handles PAN/PIN? | No | No | No | Yes |
| Order–payment linkage | Manual reconciliation | Automatic via PaymentIntent | Automatic via PaymentIntent | Via your gateway integration |
| Solution highlights | Zero integration; terminal runs independently. Plug-and-play Airwallex hardware. | Terminal connected with point-of-sale system, clear order-to-payment linkage. | Convert phones, tablets, or kiosks into terminals; seamless shopper-facing app integration. | API acquiring without Airwallex hardware constraints; you select and operate terminals. |
| APIs | None on your side—the built-in terminal POS app only. | Payments Terminals API API (register terminals, process a PaymentIntent on a terminal API) plus PaymentIntents API for create, capture, cancel, and refund. | PaymentIntents API on your server plus the SoftPOS SDK on Android. | Payments API API acquiring on your gateway integration. |
| Integration effort | No coding | Low coding | Low coding | Most coding |
Pure BYOD and PCI scope
Pure BYOD integrations require your systems to handle PAN/PIN and meet applicable PCI and regional compliance obligations. Contact your Airwallex Account Manager before scoping this path.