• EU-wide regulations mean a growing reliance on POS terminals’ compliance.
• Reporting, sales tracking, and accessibility requirements at the point of sale.

A recent white paper on POS compliance in 2025 sets out how European regulation is pushing retailers’ legal obligations into physical checkout systems, with consequences for store operations and technology choices.

The report states that regulations affecting payments, accessibility, tax reporting, product safety, and identity are changing the nature of how POS operates.

POS technology is already fairly complex, with mobile devices, self-service terminals, and integrated software essentially defining each POS unit as a computing device in its own right. Regulation adds a further element of responsibility to these common devices. According to the paper, POS systems will have to enforce and adhere to further compliance rules, such as the ability to transmit structured data to authorities.

PCI DSS v4.0 became mandatory in March 2025, introducing requirements that included multi-factor authentication for staff accessing card data, automated logging, oversight of third-party scripts running on checkout hardware, and vulnerability scans. The paper suggests these requirements could be the catalyst retailers need to reassess their POS environments’ design and operation.

Instant payments regulation is a further legislative tranche to be considered. The EU Instant Payments Regulation, which came into force in January 2025, requires banks and payment service providers to support instant transfers in Euros at all times. Retailers get the benefit of improved settlement times and fund visibility, but also experience higher risk. With payments confirmed immediately, there’s less time to detect fraud before funds start to move. The paper highlights Verification of Payee as a control affecting payment flows by requiring recipient details to be checked before execution.

Accessibility rules come in the form of the EU Accessibility Act as it applies to self-service terminals, including POS hardware. New devices must support features like audio guidance, tactile input, screen reader compatibility, and high-contrast displays. Retailers using older equipment are granted a grace period, but retailers’ hardware replacement plans will need to take accessibility into account.

Several EU countries are introducing mandatory B2B e-invoicing and near-real-time transaction reporting, with Italy, Romania, Germany, and Belgium are among the first. POS systems will need to generate structured invoices, connect to national reporting platforms, and capture per-transaction data. The paper points out that although most mandates apply to B2B transactions, retailers often rely on shared POS infrastructure for both business and consumer sales, thus increasing the chances that many will experience implementation issues.

Product safety regulation also reaches into the checkout. The General Product Safety Regulation, in force since December 2024, applies to all consumer goods sold in the EU, including those sold in physical stores. For some product categories, retailers have to record batch numbers or serial numbers at the POS, plus display safety and manufacturer information.. The paper notes that retailers are also required to verify the compliance of second-hand and refurbished goods, affecting certain retailers.

The paper looks ahead to the growing number of digital identity initiatives in the EU, the UK, and further afield. The European Digital Identity Wallet, expected in 2026, is intended to support identity-verified payments and age checks in all member states. POS systems will need to support biometric authentication and integrate with identity APIs, bringing KYC into many in-store transactions.

The paper stresses the differences between member states’ implementations of the various rules. The EU directives set broad frameworks, but many obligations are enacted at a national level, particularly in tax reporting and POS software certification. There is no single EU-wide certification currently applying to POS software. Retailers comply with national tax frameworks as they apply to local sales. For retailers operating internationally, there’s an increase in compliance and, therefore, technological overhead.

The paper advises retailers to assess whether their POS systems can support the raft of requirements detailing security, payments, accessibility, invoicing, and product traceability. Its authors, Castles Technology, a small, UK-based POS vendor, also stress the importance of documenting procedures as a way of demonstrating compliance for audit submissions.

(Image source: “Old cash register” by seanavigatorsson is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.)

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