Others can work but I think only these require no merchant involvement.

That one works for me. I have also been able to use the phone app, but not the other various payment terminal styles.

This is great news, as I'm pretty sure that's what they have. Combined with the answer from Bullish Bitcoiner, it sounds like the problem was my expectations (a QR code). And it looks like Zeus might be able to do the NFC thingy if I give it permission. This is looking optimistic. Adversarial integration. 😈

I have had similar experiences to your original posts with a different type of front facing terminal. I love NFC. It's the easiest way to connect my wallet to cool stuff.