I think a few places—ones that cater to a large number of Chinese students, mainly—might support WeChat or AliPay. Not that those are exactlygreat options.

Not really, unless AMEX counts. RIP Bankcard

Behind the scenes there are several routes your card can be charged via. IIRC EFTPOS is one of the cheapest, but doesn’t support card tap, instead you have to insert and use your pin?

EDIT: Yes

https://choice.community/t/do-we-pay-more-for-credit-card-purchases-when-we-tap-instead-of-insert/31743

When a card is waved OR is a credit card it is processed by the credit network and receives the ‘valuable protections’ attributed to credit cards regardless of whether it is a credit or branded (eg Visa or Mastercard) debit card. If it is inserted and identified as an EFTPOS card it is processed through the interbank (cheaper) network; if a debit card it depends on the selection (eg savings, cheque, or credit).

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-22/inserting-your-card-could-help-reduce-card-surcharges/104105544

If you use a debit card, it’s likely a “dual network” card, meaning it can be used to make payments via the Mastercard/Visa network (depending on the issuer) as well as the eftpos system.

Using the lower-cost eftpos system can help reduce card surcharges and sometimes avoid them completely.

To do this, you typically swipe or insert your card and pay using the “savings” option.

I guess I know what I’m doing from now on.