A payment terminal is the physical card reader that sits on your reception desk or in a consult room. With Lupa Pay enabled, terminals are paired to your store ahead of time and appear as a list in Lupa — staff pick the right one when starting a payment, and the customer taps, inserts or swipes their card on the device. This article covers the day-to-day terminal experience: where they live in Lupa, how to take a card payment with one, and how to refund one.
💡 In short: Your terminals are listed in Settings → Payments → Lupa Pay Terminals. To take a card payment, open an invoice and click Add Payment → Terminal tab. To refund a terminal payment, open the payment record and click Create Refund — terminal payments support partial refunds.
🔒 This article applies only when Lupa Pay is enabled for your store. If you don't see a Payments tab in Settings or a Terminal option when adding a payment, your store is on a different payment processor (or Lupa Pay is still being set up). Activation is covered in .
Before you begin
📍 Who can do what:
Manage terminals (rename, refresh the list): users with the Update Store Financial Information permission — typically Practice Manager, Owner or Administrator roles.
Take a payment on a terminal: any user who can already create payments on an invoice.
Refund a terminal payment: users with refund permission on your role.
A few things to know before you reach for a terminal:
Terminals are paired before they reach you. Lupa configures the device against your Lupa Pay account during onboarding, so there is no pairing PIN to enter at the practice. When the device arrives, plug it in, connect it to power and the network, and click Refresh terminals in Lupa to pull it into the list.
Each terminal must be online to take payments. The device needs power and either Wi-Fi or ethernet. A terminal that's powered off, asleep or offline shows as Inactive in Lupa and can't be selected from the payment dropdown.
Each site has its own terminals. If you operate multiple sites under one company, switch to the right store from the header before adding or using a terminal — terminals don't roam between sites.
Where your terminals live
Open Settings → Payments. Scroll to the Lupa Pay Terminals card. Every Lupa Pay terminal paired to the current store is listed here with three columns:
Column | What it shows |
Label | The friendly name staff see when starting a payment (e.g. Reception 1, Consult Room 2). Click the pencil icon next to the label to rename it |
Terminal ID | The hardware serial of the device. You'll only need this when contacting Lupa support about a specific terminal |
Active | Active = the device is powered on, online and ready to take a payment. Inactive = the device is off, asleep or has lost its network connection |
The list does not auto-poll. If you've just powered on a terminal or just had a new one shipped, click Refresh terminals in the top-right of the card to re-query the device list and refresh connection status.
Renaming a terminal
The Label is the only piece of terminal information staff actually see at the till — keep it descriptive.
In Settings → Payments → Lupa Pay Terminals, click the pencil icon next to the label you want to change.
Type the new label.
Press Enter (or click the tick) to save. Esc cancels. The new label appears immediately in the dropdown the next time someone opens the Add Payment → Terminal dialog.
✅ Pick labels that match the physical room or device. Reception 1, Reception 2, Consult Room 2, Cattery counter — these read better at speed than serial numbers. Avoid generic labels like Terminal A, which slow staff down on busy days.
Adding a new terminal
There is no self-serve "Add terminal" button — terminal hardware is shipped from Lupa, pre-paired to your account. The order of operations is:
You request a new terminal from Lupa (your Customer Success contact, or [email protected]). Mention the site and a friendly label so we can ship it pre-named.
Lupa pairs and ships the device to the practice address on file.
You unbox, power and connect it to power and your network.
You click Refresh terminals in Lupa. The new device appears in the list as Active within a few seconds of being online. If a newly-arrived terminal doesn't appear after a couple of refreshes, see Troubleshooting below.
Taking a payment on a terminal
Step 1: Open the invoice and click Add Payment
From the client page, click Add Payment. The Add Payment dialog opens with three tabs along the top: Manual, Online, Terminal.
Step 2: Switch to the Terminal tab
Click Terminal. You'll see "Use a terminal to complete the payment" and three fields: Amount, Terminal, and Description (optional).
Step 3: Enter the amount and pick the terminal
The Amount field defaults to the invoice's outstanding balance — leave it as-is to settle the invoice in full, or type in a lower amount to take a part-payment.
Open the Terminal dropdown. Devices that aren't currently online are listed but disabled, with a "This terminal is not connected" tooltip — pick one that's available.
The Description field is optional and saved to the payment record for your own reference. If the dropdown is empty or every terminal is greyed out, jump to Troubleshooting.
Step 4: Click Create payment, then hand the terminal to the client
Lupa hands the payment off to the chosen device. From here, everything happens on the terminal screen — the client taps, inserts or swipes their card, enters a PIN if needed, and removes it when prompted. While the device is in use, the dialog updates in real time with whatever the terminal is doing — for example "Card presented", "Processing payment...", "Payment completed". You don't need to do anything in Lupa during this time. If the device asks for signature verification, the dialog shows a Yes / No prompt — confirm the signature visually, then answer. When the device finishes:
Outcome on terminal | What happens in Lupa |
Approved | Dialog closes / shows "Payment completed". The invoice is settled (or part-settled) and a payment record is created on it |
Cancelled (by client or staff) | "Payment cancelled" — no payment is recorded. You can start over |
Declined / failed | "Payment failed" — no payment is recorded. Try a different card or terminal |
💡 The terminal is the source of truth. If the device says Approved but Lupa briefly shows a network hiccup, refresh the invoice — the payment will be there. If the device says Declined, no money has moved, regardless of what's on screen in Lupa.
Refunding a terminal payment
Terminal refunds run through the device too — the customer brings the card back in to the practice and re-presents it on the same (or another) terminal. There needs to some form of credit value to refund. this can be either an unallocated payment or credit note.
Navigate to the client transaction table.
Find the original invoice and create a credit note to in order to create a credit value to pay back.
Click Create Refund.
Choose a refund reason (Sold in Error, Overpayment, Goods Not Collected by Client, Goods Not Received by Client, Unknown).
Set the amount — terminal payments support partial refunds. Type any amount up to the original payment.
Pick a Terminal from the dropdown and click Confirm.
The customer presents their card on the device. The dialog mirrors the same real-time messages as a payment — when it's done, the refund record flips to Completed.
⚠️ Partial refunds work for terminal and manual payments — not online payments. Online (payment-link) refunds are full-only. If you need to refund part of an online payment, leave it alone and issue a credit note for the difference instead. See for the difference.
Tips
✅
Click Refresh terminals at the start of a busy day. It's the fastest way to confirm every device is online before clients start arriving — much better than discovering an Inactive terminal halfway through a transaction.
Name terminals after the room, not the device. Reception 1 will outlive any specific piece of hardware; V400m-400000111 won't.
Plug terminals into ethernet where you can. Wi-Fi is fine, but a wired connection takes the most common cause of "Inactive" off the table.
For shared physical terminals, brief the team on which is which. When you have two devices behind reception, picking the wrong one in the dropdown will leave a client tapping a silent reader. Matching labels to a sticker on the back of the device works well.
If a payment hangs, look at the device first. Terminal screens always show what's happening — Lupa just mirrors it.
Troubleshooting
Problem | What to do |
The Lupa Pay Terminals card is empty or missing | If the card is empty, no terminals have been paired yet — contact Lupa to ship one. If the card is missing entirely, your store doesn't have Lupa Pay enabled or you're on the wrong store; check the store switcher in the header. Setup is covered in |
A new terminal hasn't appeared after I clicked Refresh terminals | Confirm the device is powered on and connected to the network (the device's own home screen will tell you). Wait 30 seconds, then click Refresh terminals again. If it still doesn't appear after the second refresh, message Lupa with the device serial — it may not have completed the pre-pair step before shipping |
A terminal shows Inactive even though it's switched on | The device has lost its network connection or gone to sleep. Wake it (tap the screen), confirm it has Wi-Fi or ethernet, then click Refresh terminals. If it stays Inactive after a hard reboot, escalate to Lupa with the Terminal ID |
Every terminal in the dropdown is disabled with "This terminal is not connected" | None of your devices are currently online. Check the physical hardware first, then click Refresh terminals in Settings to re-pull connection state |
Payment hung mid-transaction — the dialog is still spinning | Look at the device screen. If it shows Approved, refresh the invoice — the payment is there. If it's still asking for a card, ask the client to retry the tap. If the device went to sleep mid-flow, cancel on the device, then close and reopen the Add Payment dialog in Lupa |
The dialog says "Payment failed" but the client says their bank texted them about a charge | Open the Transactions tab in Lupa Pay and search by amount — a failed authorisation can sometimes show a hold that auto-releases. If a real charge has captured, contact Lupa with the transaction reference; do not take the payment again |
I can't see a Terminal tab when adding a payment | Either Lupa Pay isn't enabled on the current store or no terminals have been paired yet. The dialog shows "Lupa Pay is disabled" and a link to Settings in this case |
The refund dialog only lets me refund the full amount | You're refunding an online (payment-link) payment, not a terminal payment. Online payments are full-refund only — issue a credit note for the difference if you need a partial. See |
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to pair a new terminal myself with a code or PIN?
Do I have to pair a new terminal myself with a code or PIN?
No. Lupa pairs every terminal to your account before it ships. When the device arrives you just power it on, connect it to your network, and click Refresh terminals — it appears in the list automatically.
Can I move a terminal between sites?
Can I move a terminal between sites?
Terminals are paired to a single Lupa Pay store account so payouts land in the right bank account. If you need to move a device permanently, contact Lupa — we'll re-pair it to the new site. Don't expect a terminal to "just work" if you carry it between practices.
Can the same terminal be used by more than one staff member at once?
Can the same terminal be used by more than one staff member at once?
No — a terminal handles one transaction at a time. If two staff start a payment against the same device in quick succession, the second will wait until the first finishes (or fails). Pick a different terminal if there's one available.
What happens if the network drops while a payment is processing?
What happens if the network drops while a payment is processing?
The terminal itself is the source of truth. If it shows Approved, the payment captured and Lupa will sync the record once the connection comes back — refresh the invoice to confirm. If the device says Cancelled or Declined, nothing was charged.
Can I take a tip on a terminal?
Can I take a tip on a terminal?
Tipping is governed by the device's own configuration, not Lupa. If your terminal is set up to prompt for a tip, the prompt will appear on the device screen during the payment and the final amount captured will include it.
Why does the dropdown sometimes show terminals I no longer use?
Why does the dropdown sometimes show terminals I no longer use?
Terminals stay in the list until they're formally retired by Lupa, even if they've been unplugged. Rename them to something obvious like Old reception terminal — do not use and contact Lupa to have the record removed permanently.
Where do I see whether a terminal payment hit my bank account?
Where do I see whether a terminal payment hit my bank account?
That's a payout, not a transaction — covered in . Each individual terminal payment is in the Transactions tab of Lupa Pay.