The Commonwealth Bank has unveiled a new touchscreen point-of-sale payment platform dubbed Pi, and portable gadgets to make use of it, including one that transforms Apple iPhones or an iPod touch into a merchant terminal.

Dubbed Leo by the CBA, the gadget is a casing attaches to the Apple devices, and which includes an EMV chip reader, a magnetic stripe for reading and swiping credit cards, and provision for processing contactless near-field communication (NFC) payments.

A second terminal, dubbed Albert, is self-contained, with a 7-inch touchscreen, also able to process NFC payments as well as standard swiped credit card transactions.

Albert, manufactured by Wincor Nixdorf, will come with a range of Android applications designed by the CBA.

These include an app capable of splitting bills – for instance between diners in a restaurant.

Both terminals are portable and can thus be taken to the customer, rather than requiring the customer to queue at a checkout. Leo is expected to be available next month, but Albert is not expected to make its bow until early next year.