Stripe Terminal Australia review: for multichannel businesses with custom needs

How does it work?

Stripe Terminal is primarily for online businesses that need a custom EFTPOS solution to link with online payments in Stripe.

You’ll need to use a software development kit (SDK) and application programming interfaces (APIs) to integrate the EFTPOS terminal with your own web app or mobile app, unless you’re using it with certain compatible point of sale (POS) software with an out-of-the-box integration.

The solution consists of:

• Your mobile or web-based application
• Stripe Dashboard (backend browser account)
• Card terminal
• Terminal SDK

In Australia, you can choose between two EFTPOS machines: a small card reader with a PIN pad or handheld smart POS terminal, both manufactured by BBPOS.

The pre-certified card machines are set up to work smoothly with Stripe’s payments system, but it is expected you implement code – guided by documentation – in order to connect and personalise it with your POS software.

That said, the Stripe card readers can connect with a few third-party payment apps without code, usually for an additional fee per transaction.

In Australia, the card terminals only accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay and Google Pay in AUD currency only. eftpos acceptance and least-cost routing are coming soon. Until then, only eftpos cards co-branded with Visa or Mastercard can be accepted (over the Visa/Mastercard network).

Stripe Terminal fees

Fees and costs are simple with Stripe. You pay upfront for the chosen terminal (A$329 + GST for the touchscreen terminal, A$89 + GST for the small card reader), then a fixed rate + fee per transaction.

There are no monthly costs, setup fees or complicated rates – you just pay the same transaction rates per successful transaction: 1.75% + A$0.10 for Australian cards or 2.9% + A$0.10 for international cards, GST included. If you choose to accept a payment in a different currency than the cardholder’s, a currency conversion fee of 2% is added on top.

When a refund is processed, the transaction fee (e.g. 1.75% + A$0.10 if a domestic card was used) is retained by Stripe – no additional refund fee is added.

Chargebacks incur a A$25 cost. If the cardholder’s bank resolves the disputed payment in your favour, you get this fee back.

It can take about 6-7 working days to receive payouts in your bank account, even two weeks if your business is classed as higher risk.

Integrations with third-party POS with no (or little) code

What if you use Stripe online payments with an ecommerce platform and don’t have the budget to hire a developer to set up a POS solution for the EFTPOS terminal? Then you have a few options that connect with one of the card machines.

Lightspeed: As a Lightspeed POS customer, you can choose to accept cards in store via Lightspeed Payments. This is actually powered by Stripe Terminal and set up by Lightspeed if you opt for it.

Abacus: The team at Abacus POS will set up the Stripe integration for you if you’re happy using the BBPOS WisePad 3 reader for a 1.6% transaction fee (reduced rate) per transaction.

Big Cartel app: The Big Cartel ecommerce platform is popular with artists. If you’re already using Stripe for a Big Cartel online store, downloading this payment app would be the simplest way for you to accept in-person payments through a terminal.

Krossroads POS: Full-featured point of sale app for Android devices only. Free and paid plans available. Works with BBPOS WisePad 3 and BBPOS WisePOS E card readers.

M&M POS: Free POS system (iOS, Android, macOS or Windows) with various payment methods like invoicing, subscriptions and card reader payments through BBPOS WisePOS E. No monthly fee, but a 1% transaction fee is added to Stripe’s own rates.

Payment: There’s a payment app for Stripe Terminal aptly called ‘Payment’. It costs 1% on top of Stripe’s transaction fee, with no monthly fee or commitment.

Terminal for Stripe and WooCommerce, by Arcane Strategies: Plugin for WooCommerce merchants for accepting in-person payments through BBPOS WisePOS E without an app or BBPOS WisePad 3 with a mobile app.

Other compatible apps from third parties appear to work with Stripe Terminal, but only the US card reader model. We know that Collect for Stripe only works with Stripe Reader M2 (US model), whereas Vēmos and Nomod have not confirmed compatibility in Australia.

Apart from that, popular POS systems may also integrate with Stripe EFTPOS with the right code implementation. It’s worth checking with your POS provider if they can support or set this up for you.

Reports and admin features

A major part of Stripe is its backend management and report functions. It is here you manage online payments such as subscriptions, online bookings and ecommerce transactions, as well as chargebacks, customers and other business functions related to payments.

In the case of Stripe Terminal, you have a fleet management section where you can monitor and manage all your terminals remotely. If you have several physical locations, you can determine location-specific settings for the card readers and view when individual terminals were last active.

Stripe reviews and support

All users are offered 24/7 customer support by email, chat or telephone. There are also plenty of well-written resources and step-by-step guides in a help section.

Customer reviews indicate a mixed experience of the company. Many users mention account closures out of the blue, with payments refunded to their customers or held for various reasons. Upon contacting the company, users don’t get satisfactory or even rational responses.

It appears you have to fight hard to win chargeback claims, even with strong documentation to show you are on the right side of the argument.

Furthermore, Stripe is strict in regards to high-risk business. If you fall under a prohibited business area (contact Stripe for clarification), your account may be suspended even if you were initially accepted and started receiving payments.

Other users praise the support, with emphasis on a positive onboarding experience.

Verdict: good for specific businesses

Stripe Terminal would best suit merchants already using Stripe for some sort of online payments. Adding a card reader helps consolidate online with in-person payments without the hassle of a card machine contract, PCI compliance and other necessary arrangements for card processing at a physical location.

It is also one of the easier ways (with your own developer) to customise a unique point-of-sale experience in your own POS application, whether that is an app uniquely created for your business or third-party POS software that’s compatible.

But for those selling primarily in person, Stripe Terminal is not the most cost-effective, nor beneficial, payment solution you should be looking at. Payouts are slow, and non-technical merchants without a budget for developers have limited no-code POS options.

On top of this, eftpos is not yet accepted in Australia, unless it’s co-branded with Visa or Mastercard. Once Stripe has sorted this out along with least-cost routing, it would be more valuable for Australian merchants.

We recommend looking at alternatives to know what you’re up against.