Westpac will allow small business customers to accept payments made through Android phones and tablets from early next year, and they would be able to offer credit or debit card “tap and go” without buying or renting a terminal.

Westpac’s use of consumer handsets for business payments forms part of its strategy to fend off Square, part of Block, which has eaten into the “merchant acquiring” business of the big banks by offering easy-to-use payment dongles that connect to smartphones.