Hardware prices are published per device and charged once. There is no rental contract and no minimum term, so a terminal you stop using is not a bill you keep paying.
Choosing a terminal
Three devices cover almost every situation. The decision is usually about where the customer stands, not about features.
| Device | Suits | Connectivity | Battery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Counter terminal | A fixed till point in a shop or reception. | Ethernet and WiFi | Mains powered |
| Handheld terminal | Table service, salons, clinics, anywhere you go to the customer. | Cellular and WiFi | A full trading day |
| Mobile reader | Markets, deliveries, callouts and events. | Bluetooth to your phone | Several days of light use |
Start with one
Order a single device, run it for a fortnight, then order the rest. Adding terminals later takes minutes because the account is already live.
What every terminal accepts
- Contactless cards, at the scheme limit, with a PIN prompt above it.
- Chip and PIN, and magnetic stripe as a fallback where the scheme still allows it.
- Phone and watch wallets, including Apple Pay and Google Pay.
- Refunds, partial refunds and tips, without calling support.
- Digital receipts by SMS or email, and paper where the device has a printer.
- Dual connectivity
- Handhelds carry a SIM as well as WiFi. If the shop broadband drops, the terminal keeps taking payments on cellular rather than turning customers away.
- Offline mode
- Where the scheme permits it, transactions up to a floor limit can be taken offline and submitted when connectivity returns. This carries risk, so it is off by default and you switch it on knowingly.
- Point-to-point encryption
- Card data is encrypted inside the reader and stays encrypted until it reaches us. It is never readable on your network, which is also what keeps your PCI scope small.
- Multi-operator
- Each member of staff signs in with their own code, so takings, refunds and tips report per person.
From order to first payment
Order
From inside your merchant dashboard once the account is approved. Next-day shipping is included.
Power on and pair
The terminal finds your account from its serial number. There is no configuration file to type in.
Take a test payment
Charge yourself a small amount and refund it. This proves the whole chain end to end in two minutes.
Add your staff
Create operator codes so reporting is per person from day one rather than retrofitted later.
Trade
Takings appear in your dashboard as they happen and settle on your chosen schedule.
Never accept a terminal you did not order
Swapping a genuine terminal for a tampered one is a real attack. Check the serial number against your dashboard before putting a device into service, and refuse any engineer visit you did not arrange.
When something goes wrong
| Problem | First thing to try |
|---|---|
| Terminal will not connect | Check whether it has fallen back to cellular. If both are down, the dashboard shows a service notice. |
| Card declined | The decline reason is on the receipt. Most are issuer-side and retrying will not help. |
| Payment taken twice | Refund the duplicate from the terminal. Do not raise a dispute against your own transaction. |
| Terminal damaged or lost | Deactivate it in the dashboard immediately, then order a replacement. |
| Takings do not match | Compare the terminal batch total against the settlement report before assuming a payment is missing. |
Documents you may also need
Merchant Pricing & Fees
What accepting payments costs: transaction rates, settlement options, hardware, chargebacks and the fees other providers leave until the contract.
Merchant ServicesOnline Payments
Take payments on your own site: a hosted checkout, plugins for the major platforms, a direct API, and stored cards for repeat purchases.
Merchant ServicesSettlement & Payouts
When a payment becomes money in your account: settlement schedules, instant settlement, multi-currency payouts and how to reconcile them.
This document was last updated on 1 August 2026. We publish the current version here at all times; superseded versions are available on request.
If anything on this page is unclear, write to us and we will explain it.