Terminal Payments Overview
Accept card-present payments through your PAX terminal with RevKeen Terminal Connector
RevKeen Terminal lets you accept card-present payments at the point of sale using a PAX terminal connected through the RevKeen Terminal Connector. Payments flow through the same unified transaction ledger as your online payments, giving you a single view of all revenue.
- How terminal payments work end-to-end
- The three-component architecture
- Supported devices and card entry modes
- How terminal payments appear in your dashboard and reports
How It Works
RevKeen Terminal uses a three-component architecture to securely process card-present payments:
RevKeen Dashboard RevKeen Cloud Terminal Connector PAX Terminal
│ │ │ │
│ "Charge £50.00" │ │ │
├───────────────────────▶│ │ │
│ │ Send command (WS) │ │
│ ├────────────────────────▶│ │
│ │ │ Present card prompt │
│ │ ├───────────────────────▶│
│ │ │ │ Customer taps/
│ │ │ │ inserts card
│ │ │ Approved ✓ │
│ │ │◀───────────────────────┤
│ │ Result │ │
│ │◀────────────────────────┤ │
│ Payment succeeded │ │ │
│◀───────────────────────┤ │ │- You initiate a payment from the RevKeen dashboard (or via the API).
- RevKeen Cloud sends the command to your Terminal Connector over a secure WebSocket connection.
- The Connector forwards the command to your PAX terminal on your local network.
- The customer presents their card (tap, insert chip, or swipe).
- The terminal processes the payment and returns the result through the same chain.
- RevKeen records the transaction in your unified ledger with full card-present metadata.
Card data never passes through RevKeen servers. The PAX terminal communicates directly with the payment processor. RevKeen only receives the transaction result (approval code, masked PAN, entry mode).
Supported Devices
RevKeen Terminal currently supports the PAX A920 Pro smart terminal. The A920 Pro features:
- 5-inch touchscreen display
- Contactless (NFC), chip (EMV), magnetic stripe, and manual entry
- Built-in receipt printer
- Wi-Fi and 4G connectivity
- Android-based operating system with the PAX WebLink middleware
Don't have a PAX terminal? You can request one directly from the terminal setup page in your RevKeen Dashboard.
Card Entry Modes
RevKeen Terminal supports all standard card entry methods. The entry mode is automatically recorded with each transaction:
| Entry Mode | Description | Security |
|---|---|---|
| Contactless (Tap) | Customer taps their card or phone on the terminal | EMV cryptogram verified |
| EMV Chip | Customer inserts their card into the chip reader | PIN or signature verified |
| Magnetic Stripe | Customer swipes their card | Signature may be required |
| Manual Entry | Card number entered manually on the terminal keypad | Used when card cannot be read |
| Fallback | Terminal fell back from chip to swipe due to chip read failure | Logged for fraud monitoring |
Terminal Payments in Your Dashboard
Identifying Terminal Payments
Terminal (card-present) payments are clearly distinguished from online (card-not-present) payments throughout the dashboard:
| Field | Terminal Payment | Online Payment |
|---|---|---|
| Payment Channel | card_present | card_not_present |
| Entry Mode | contactless, emv_chip, magnetic_stripe, etc. | Not applicable |
| Card Details | Masked PAN, card scheme, entry mode | Card brand, last 4 digits |
| Terminal Info | Device name, terminal serial number | Not applicable |
Transaction History
All terminal payments appear in your unified transaction list alongside online payments. You can filter by:
- Payment channel -- Show only terminal payments or only online payments
- Device -- Filter by specific terminal
- Entry mode -- Filter by contactless, chip, or swipe
- Status -- Approved, declined, refunded, voided
Reporting
Terminal payment data flows into all standard RevKeen reports:
- Revenue reports include card-present and card-not-present breakdowns
- Payment method reports show entry mode distribution (contactless vs chip vs swipe)
- Reconciliation matches terminal transactions to your gateway settlement batches
Getting Started
To start accepting terminal payments, follow these steps:
- Activate terminal payments -- Enable the terminal feature on your account
- Install the connector -- Download and set up the Terminal Connector app
- Process your first payment -- Send a payment to the terminal
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a terminal payment take?
Most contactless payments complete in under 5 seconds. Chip (EMV) payments typically take 10-15 seconds. The terminal has a 3-minute timeout window -- if no card is presented within 3 minutes, the payment is automatically cancelled.
Can I use multiple terminals?
Yes. You can pair multiple PAX terminals through one or more connectors. When initiating a payment, you select which terminal to send it to.
What happens if my internet goes down during a payment?
If the connector loses internet connectivity during a payment, the terminal may still process the card locally (depending on the terminal's offline mode). The result will sync to RevKeen when connectivity is restored.
Are terminal payments PCI compliant?
Yes. Card data is processed entirely on the PAX terminal and communicated directly to the payment processor. RevKeen never receives, stores, or transmits full card numbers. Only masked PANs and transaction metadata are stored.
Related
- Processing Payments -- How to initiate sales at the terminal
- Refunds and Voids -- Reverse terminal transactions
- Terminal API -- Developer guide for programmatic terminal payments
- Payments and Refunds -- Online payment processing and refund workflows