19 July 2012 7:02am

Eftpos Payments Australia's CEO, Bruce Mansfield, yesterday praised the planned release of Commonwealth Bank’s Pi payments system, and the first tablet-style point of sale device, as a "game changer" likely to prompt a refresh of much of the national point of sale network.

A minority of the 750,000 point of sale payment devices in Australia have been upgraded to allow contactless transactions using near field communications technology.

CBA’s tablet point of sale device – once it is in production next year – will also allow such contactless payments.

The CBA payment...