Shopify POS works in New Zealand, but its own card readers can't take a plain EFTPOS card. If a real share of your customers insert an EFTPOS card and press CHQ or SAV, you'll need a second terminal, and ideally an app that links it to Shopify.
For an online-first shop with mostly tap-and-go customers, that may not matter. For a busy café or a local retailer, it usually does. Here's what works, what it costs and when to pick something else.
What Shopify Payments accepts in New Zealand
Shopify Payments is Shopify's own card processing. In NZ it takes American Express, Mastercard, UnionPay and Visa. Two catches:
- EFTPOS. In Shopify's words: "EFTPOS cards are supported when they're co-branded with Visa or Mastercard." A card that only has the EFTPOS network on it isn't covered.
- UnionPay. It works online, but Shopify says it's "not supported for in-person payments through Shopify POS".
If you've read that Shopify POS takes eftpos, that's Australia. Shopify's card-payments page lists "eftpos (Australia only)". Australia's eftpos is a different network from ours.
On the Basic plan, an in-person card payment through Shopify Payments costs 1.8%. The plan itself is about ≈ NZ$80/mo incl. GST.
Why a plain EFTPOS card fails
EFTPOS is New Zealand's own debit network, separate from Visa and Mastercard. Shopify's readers run on the card schemes, so a card without a Visa or Mastercard logo has nothing to connect to.
That matters for your margin. BNZ and ASB both list no merchant service fee when a customer inserts or swipes an EFTPOS card and picks CHQ or SAV. Push that same customer onto a Visa or Mastercard payment and you pay a fee on every sale. Our guide to EFTPOS fees in NZ explains the full picture.
Three ways to take EFTPOS with Shopify POS
1. Shopify reader only
Use the WisePad 3 or POS Terminal with Shopify Payments, and accept that plain EFTPOS cards won't work.
Good for: online-first brands doing pop-ups, shops with lots of overseas visitors, and anyone whose customers mostly tap a phone or a Visa or Mastercard debit card.
Not for: cafés, butchers, dairies or anyone with regulars who still insert an EFTPOS card.
2. A separate NZ terminal, marked as paid
Shopify's help explains the manual route: "set up an account with a payment processor, then buy or rent a terminal from them, and create a custom payment type in the POS app", then "tap Mark as paid".
So staff key the amount into the terminal, take the payment, then mark the order as paid in Shopify. It works, it costs nothing extra in software, and it's where mistakes creep in: a mistyped amount, or an order marked paid when the card declined. Shopify also says that for external card readers it shows the payment status but not the transaction details, so reconciling means matching your terminal's report against Shopify. On top of that, Shopify charges its third-party fee: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, when you take payment outside Shopify Payments.
You'll need a terminal. See EFTPOS rental prices in NZ for what hiring or leasing one costs.
3. An integration app (OrderMate)
OrderMate by Made Simple Apps links Shopify POS to Windcave, Verifone and Shift4 (formerly Smartpay) terminals. In its own words, it "supports Shopify POS with Windcave, Verifone and Smartpay / Shift4 on compatible iPad and Android tablets in New Zealand and Australia". Made Simple Apps bills it as a Shopify POS EFTPOS integration: you install it on each tablet and follow its set-up steps to pair your payment terminal.
- Its Shopify App Store listing says "From $9.99/month" and that "All charges are billed in USD".
- On Made Simple Apps' site, the $9.99 Starter plan covers one payment provider, one POS location, three EFTPOS terminals and 2,000 transactions a month. Bigger plans cost more.
- There's a 7-day free trial. The OrderMate app needs Android 7.0 or later.
- Eftpos NZ's own list of integrated POS vendors shows Shopify POS through Made Simple Apps.
Don't mix it up with OrderMate (ordermate.com.au), an unrelated Australian hospitality POS.
Windcave's own integrations list tags Shopify as Online only. So "Windcave works with Shopify" usually means website checkout, not your shop counter. The same goes for Eftpos NZ's Shopify plugin, which connects a website checkout to its Verifone Checkout online payments, not a shop-counter terminal.
What each option costs
| Set-up | Card fee | Terminal | Extra software |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify reader only | 1.8% in person (Basic) | POS Terminal NZ$509.00 (GST not stated), or WisePad 3 | None |
| Separate terminal, marked as paid | Your EFTPOS provider's fees, plus Shopify's 2% third-party fee on Basic | Rent, lease or buy from your provider | None |
| OrderMate app | Your EFTPOS provider's fees, plus any Shopify third-party fee | Windcave, Verifone or Shift4 terminal | From US$9.99/month |
Terminal rental, network and SIM fees vary by provider. Plug your own numbers into the true cost calculator to see a year's total.
One thing Shopify does well here: Xero builds its own Shopify integration, free on all Xero plans, and it covers POS sales alongside your online store. Xero status: Yes.
Who should pick something else
If most of your takings come over the counter and EFTPOS cards are common, a POS with built-in NZ terminal integration is simpler:
- Lightspeed: Windcave, Shift4 (formerly Smartpay), Eftpos NZ (Verifone). Read our Lightspeed review.
- Hike: HikePay, Eftpos NZ (Verifone), Windcave. Read our Hike review.
- Lazygrid: Windcave, Eftpos NZ (Verifone), Shift4 (formerly Smartpay). Read our Lazygrid review.
- Bustle: Eftpos NZ (Verifone), Windcave, Shift4 (formerly Smartpay). Read our Bustle review.
Weighing up the two big retail names? See Lightspeed vs Shopify POS, or compare all seven systems. To check a specific POS and terminal pair, use the EFTPOS checker. Terminal-side detail is in our guides to Windcave and Shift4 integrations.