Accepting Card Present Payments

Barkpass supports collecting card present payments using Stripe's official card readers. Barkpass customers can order a hardware card reader terminal from Stripe and connect it to Barkpass to accept payments for customers.

Using card present payments allows you to collect payments more quickly from your customers in-person without having to manually enter a credit card number. Customers can complete transactions much more quickly, and Stripe charges a lower transaction rate for in-person payments.

Ordering a card reader

To order a card reader, visit your Stripe dashboard and select a card reader to purchase: https://dashboard.stripe.com/terminal/shop

You can optionally order additional hardware like a dock, case, or charger depending upon your needs.

Setting up a card reader

Stripe card reader setup will vary depending on the device you order. However, most setup flows will involve:

1. Powering on the device. This includes connecting it to power if the battery is not yet charged.
2. Connecting to a local WiFi network. If you purchased a dock, you can also connect via ethernet.
3. Registering the reader with Stripe. Visit your Stripe Dashboard and click Register Reader. Enter the passphrase shown on the device to connect your reader. Choose a memorable name for your reader, as you will need to reference it later in Barkpass.
4. You will be asked to assign a reader to a Location within Stripe. You can name this whatever you'd like. The location is Stripe's way of organizing readers into physical location and does not impact Barkpass.
5. The device may install updates and reboot several times before it is ready for the first time.
6. When your device has finished installing updates, it will return to a standby screen. This means it is ready to receive transactions.

Collecting payments on a card reader

To collect payments on a card reader, visit a draft application or day pass and click the Capture Payment at the top of the page.

Choose the Credit Card (Card Reader) option, and select the name of card reader you registered in the previous step.

Finally, click Send Payment to Card Reader. This will activate the reader and prompt the customer to provide their payment method.

Starting recurring memberships using a card reader

Barkpass allows you to start recurring memberships using a card reader. Follow the same steps you'd normally use, and select the card reader option.

When the customer provides their payment method, the first invoice will be charged immediately unless you've assigned a trial period for the membership.

Note: If the customer's card requires additional authentication, the membership will not be created, and you should prompt them to use a different form of payment. If they don't have any other form of payment, you can always enter the card manually using the "Credit Card (Key Entered)" option.

Handling card payment failures

If a customer's card is declined or requires additional authentication, the card transaction will fail.

Barkpass will display a message to the admin detailing what went wrong with the transaction and how to proceed.

In some cases, you can try to charge the customer's card again to see if it succeeds.

Card present transaction rate

Stripe charges a lower fee for card present payments. You can see what rate you can expect to see for card present payments based on your Barkpass contract by visiting your Payments page in the Barkpass dashboard.

Providing receipts

Card network rules require you to provide a receipt upon completion of a transaction to the customer when using a card reader.

To satisfy this requirement, Barkpass instructs Stripe to send an email receipt when the transaction is complete. You can customize these receipt emails with your branding on the Stripe dashboard. Read more about Stripe's receipts

If the customer requests a printed receipt, you can click on the transaction receipt button at the bottom of the screen and print it using your browser's print functionality.