Overview

You can use Slate Payments Terminal to accept in-person and MO/TO (mail order/telephone order) payments in Slate.

You can collect these payments using dedicated P2PE hardware designed to process payments securely, efficiently, and with reduced compliance burdens. You can also use the Slate Mobile app to collect contactless in-person payments via Tap-to-Pay.

You can accept payments from contactless credit or debit cards, Apple Pay, Apple Watch, and smartphones with other digital wallets, or by manually entering the card information.

Payment Terminal is only available with Slate Payments.

🔑 Required Permissions: Payment Terminal

Collecting payments with dedicated hardware

Slate Payment Terminal lets you capture physical, digital, or manually entered card payments using any form with a payment widget (including event registrations).

Use cases

This streamlined process is useful for:

• Phonathons: Collecting payments while on a call with a donor

• Return solicitation mail: Processing payments efficiently

• In-person transactions: Collecting event payments, in-person donations, enrollment deposits, etc.

This process happens quickly and ensures a smooth experience for both administrators and donors.

Ordering payment terminal hardware

Technolutions is happy to order and ship Payment Terminal hardware to your institution on your behalf.

Requesting an order form for payment hardware

Available models include the latest S700 and the BBPOS WisePOS E.

➡️ To begin the ordering process and receive your personalized link to an order form, send an email to [email protected].

We’ll coordinate your purchase and place the order once your payment has been received.

Security features

Both payment terminal devices connect to the internet and are P2PE (Point-to-Point Encryption) rated.

As soon as payment card data is entered, it is encrypted—before it even touches your network.

• Raw cardholder data never traverses your network in an unencrypted form. Cardholder data is encrypted in a Hardware Security Module on the device before payment data is sent to Stripe and on to the card networks. No cardholder data is stored on the device and no sensitive cardholder data is transmitted to Technolutions / Slate.

• Decryption happens off-network, preventing internal administrators or potential malicious actors from accessing unencrypted data.

• Since the network never handles raw cardholder data, PCI DSS does not consider it part of the Cardholder Data Environment (CDE), reducing compliance burdens.

Because Slate is also internet-connected, the devices and Slate do not need to be on the same network.

Connecting a hardware device to Payment Terminal

To connect a device to Payment Terminal:

1. Select Forms.

2. Select a form, or create a new one.

3. Add a Payment Form Widget to the form.

4. Set the widget’s Embed Payment Form setting to Enable Embedded Payment Collection on Form.

5. Configure the remaining widget settings according to your needs.

6. In the form’s overview page, select New Registration (i.e. an internal form registration).

7. Fill out the form fields, including a payment amount, if it wasn’t set in the Payment Form Widget.

8. On the payment form widget, select Collect Payment Details. A popup appears.
   

   

9. Select Connect Reader.

10. Select Register Device.

11. Power on your device.

12. On the device, swipe left-to-right to access its menu.

13. Tap Settings.

14. In the admin PIN field, enter 07139. This PIN is the same across the devices furnished by Technolutions.

15. Tap Generate Pairing Code. A unique pairing code appears.

16. In Slate, enter a recognizable name for the device in the Name field.

17. In the Pairing Code field, enter the pairing code provided by your device.
    

    

18. Select Save.

The device is now saved as an option to select when processing a payment on an internal form registration.

Processing a payment

To collect a payment on the form:

1. Create a new (internal) registration for the form.

2. Select Collect Payment Details.

3. Configure the following settings:

   • Reader: Select your device from the list

   • Capture Method: Select one of the following:

     • Card Present: Transaction is in-person and the payer has a card, mobile device, or the like

     • Manual Entry: You’re taking the card information (number, expiry, security code, ZIP code) over the phone or the physical card isn’t available

4. Select Capture. If the card is present, the hardware device screen updates to display the payment amount and waits for the payer to tap, insert, or swipe their card.

5. If you’re manually entering card information, enter the information directly on the hardware device.

6. When the payment has been captured, Slate updates the Payment Form Widget to display Received Payment Details from {Card-type} <LAST FOUR DIGITS>.
   

   

7. Select Submit to process the payment.

Collecting contactless payments on a mobile phone with the Slate mobile app

You can collect payments directly on your phone with the Slate mobile app.

A Slate Administrator should be the first to activate Tap-to-Pay on iPhone and accept its terms.

Installing the Slate mobile app

On an iPhone XS or newer, download the Slate mobile app from the Apple App Store.

📝 While the Slate mobile app is available for iPad and for Android devices, Tap-to-Pay requires an iPhone XS or newer.

Activating Tap to Pay

Sign into your Slate database using the Slate mobile app.

Tap the Payment Terminal icon. The available payment accounts page appears.

Select Connect Tap-to-Pay on iPhone. If you are the first user in your database to do so, you’re prompted to accept the general terms for Apple Tap-to-Pay on iPhone. You also receive an introductory email from Apple. Subsequent users will not see nor be required to accept these terms.

Processing a payment

To set up Tap-to-Pay:

Select the desired Payment Account (i.e. the prompt value) and tap the Connect Tap-to-Pay on iPhone button when it appears. A blank payment entry page appears.

Enter the desired payment amount in the Amount field.

Enter any relevant information for the payment in the Memo field.

If desired, you can associate the payment with a person record with the Assigned Record field. This field uses a standard auto-suggest to look up records. You can also tap the QR code icon to open your device's camera for scanning an event or person QR code to tie the payment back to that individual.

⭐ Best Practice

Associating a payment to a record is encouraged, but is not required. We strongly recommend linking to a person record or entering enough information in the Memo field to associate with an individual person record after the fact.

With the desired information completed on the payment form, tap Collect Payment. A payment collection screen appears.

The payment screen shows the payment amount and indicates where to hold the NFC-enabled card or device. Once the payment has been successfully captured, your device displays a checkmark and the transaction is complete. Your Slate mobile app automatically returns to the Payment Terminal page to process the next payment.

Viewing Payment Terminal transactions

Payment Terminal transactions appear in Database → Payment History alongside all other Slate Payments transactions.

Select a payment to view transaction details, including the memo.

If the transaction is not associated with a person, the Name column is blank. Select the row with the blank name to view the memo associated with the payment.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fee structure?

For US-based accounts, the transaction fees for using Payment Terminal are the same as for all Slate Payments. There is a separate terminal network fee of $0.05 for each authorization (swipe/tap). These Terminal fees are summed for a given day and will appear as separate fee items in the payment history. For details regarding Slate Payments (including fees), please refer to the Slate Payments Financial FAQ article in our Knowledge Base.

Is this method of payment collection PCI compliant? Does my phone enter the scope?

This form of payment processing is designed to protect the payer's personal information. This service doesn't collect transaction information that can be tied back to the payer. This service is PCI compliant and a user's phone does not enter the scope.

Can I accept recurring payments using the Payment Terminal?

Yes, these payments may be captured if the card is present.

Recurring payments are currently not able to be processed via MO/TO card entry.

Will the payer receive an email receipt?

If the payment is connected to a person record with a valid email address, they will receive the standard Slate Payment system notifications.