Essentially they are the same thing ultimately – but you might want to have a dedicated piece of hardware to accept all the transactions – assuming business is good!
For simply augmenting your mobile into your PoS machine all you need is a wallet – and look at our wallet guide here to choose the correct Bitcoin wallet and features you need on your operating sytsem – whether its Android, Windows or Apple.
Some of the most popular wallets are Coinbase, which at the time of writing is in talks with the UK government to incorporate automatic Bitcoin to GBP conversions – but does have the option for automatic Euro and USD conversion.
The process is very simple time the amount to be paid and a QR code will pop up – then present this to the customer who simply scans the QR code with their wallet and the transaction is made.
For PoS machines that are dedicated to the process of Bitcoin and Crypto Currency payments there are other advantages that come along with the hardware and software. For example BIPS – Bitcoin Internet Payment System – gives you the ability to create invoices and receipts.
CoinKite marries the traditional dedicated debit or credit card terminal with Bitcoin and its standard wallet. The terminal prints off receipts with QR codes for customers to scan and can also act as an ATM.
Coinbase, Bitpay and Blockchain Merchant are probably the three most well know and well used of the PoS apps out there all offering roughly the same product but with tiered structure of payment.
Coinsbase charges a percentage, whilst Bitpay charges a fee for tiered levels of service, and Blockchain.io is free.