Definition of point-of-sale terminal

electronic transaction terminal used in an electronic point-of-sale (POS) system. The terminal interacts with a computer file to approve transactions and transmits sales information for posting against customer accounts. There are two basic types of POS terminals: electronic cash registers that are used by high volume merchants, such as department stores, and dial-up terminals that automatically dial a special telephone number, often a toll-free number, to obtain authorization. net settlement, when the transfer of funds actually takes place, may occur at the same time as the transaction or soon afterward, or it may occur later in the day in POS systems that operate off-line in a store and forward mode. This type of system operates off-line, that is the merchant terminal is not connected directly to a central computer for authorization or processing of sales receipts.