The card terminal
A card terminal is the box on the desk that takes the payment, and the fewer numbers a volunteer has to key into it, the better the evening goes.
A card terminal, also called a card machine, is the device that takes contactless and chip payments in person. It is supplied by a payment provider, not by the ticketing software, and it charges its own fee per transaction. It can either stand alone or receive the amount directly from the till.
Standing alone or connected
A stand-alone terminal means someone types the amount in by hand. It works, and it is how most small venues start, but every keyed amount is a chance to type a figure that does not match what was sold.
A connected terminal receives the amount from the till, so the two records agree by construction. At the end of the night the terminal total and the till total should match to the penny, and when they do not, the difference is a real event rather than a typing error.
What it costs and who it is with
The terminal belongs to your payment relationship, not to your ticketing. You pay a rental or a purchase price, plus a fee per transaction that depends on the card used. Those costs sit alongside whatever your ticketing software charges and are worth reading separately.
Contactless has changed the arithmetic at community events. Small payments that were once always cash now go through a terminal, which is convenient at the desk and means fewer notes to count at midnight.
The terminal and Passavo
You link a Mollie or Worldline terminal, or a Stripe card reader, to a till device, and the till sends it the amount, so nobody keys it in. Card and cash takings are then reported separately, which is the split the treasurer needs to reconcile against the bank.
We do not sell terminals or take a share of what you process. Your agreement is with your payment provider, and the money from a card payment arrives in your own account on their schedule.
Also searched for as
- card machine
- payment terminal
- contactless reader
- chip and pin
Common questions
Can I accept credit cards without a terminal?
Online, yes: in your ticket shop visitors pay by credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay through your own payment provider, with no hardware at all. To take cards in person you need a terminal. That can be a card machine you already have from your bank and cannot link: you key in the amount there and choose "Card (standalone terminal)" at the till.
Do we need a terminal at all?
Only if you want to take cards in person. Online sales are handled by your payment provider without any hardware at all.
Which terminals work with the till?
A Mollie terminal, a Stripe card reader (Stripe Reader S700 or BBPOS WisePOS E) or a Worldline Android terminal with Terminal API, linked to a till device in your settings. Without a terminal you can still take cash or a QR payment at the desk.