Card payments are not working
Card failures have one of three causes: the device, the account setup, or the connection. The message tells you which, so read it before changing anything.
Card is not even offered
Section titled “Card is not even offered”Card has been Disabled for this device. It is a per-device setting, under This device’s settings → Payment Terminal, and it hides Card on Register and on the bill deliberately — for a station that never takes card.
Switch it to Auto or External terminal. See This device’s settings.
Tap to Pay will not start
Section titled “Tap to Pay will not start”| Message | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Tap to Pay is unavailable | Not available on this device | Use an external terminal or a supported device |
| No NFC hardware is available on this device (common on some tablets) | No NFC chip | Take card on a phone, a reader, or an external terminal |
| NFC is switched off | Hardware present, disabled | Turn NFC on in the tablet’s own Android settings |
| Set a business address for this location (or Legal Details) so a payment terminal location can be created | Stripe has no address to attach a terminal location to | Add the address under the location or Legal Details in the dashboard |
| The reader disconnected | A paired reader dropped | Re-pair the reader, then retry |
The NFC one catches people out most often, because the same account works on a phone and fails on a tablet. That is hardware, not a setting.
It needs internet
Section titled “It needs internet”Card Tap-to-Pay needs internet. Use Cash, or record Card to sync later.
Card capture goes through Stripe, so it cannot work offline. Cash still works, and an offline card sale can be recorded to sync later.
It failed halfway
Section titled “It failed halfway”A Tap to Pay that does not reach Payment captured has recorded nothing. The bill is still unpaid, which is correct. Retry it, or take the money another way.
Never record a payment by hand to match a terminal you think approved. Check the terminal’s own record first — a double-charged customer is harder to unwind than an unpaid bill.
The always-available fallback
Section titled “The always-available fallback”Set the device to External terminal, key the amount into your own card machine, and tap Card Approved once it approves. Nothing is recorded until you confirm, so this is safe to fall back to mid-service.