Card reader payment problems in Jovvie Point of Sale

If a card reader or terminal is not working at checkout, this page helps you find the message you see and fix it. Stripe readers and NMI terminals behave differently, so each has its own section. A station is one register in Point of Sale. See the glossary.

Before you charge again

If a payment fails partway through, check the Orders panel (see Find and view orders) and your Stripe Dashboard or NMI terminal before retrying or using another payment method. Confirm that no payment for this order went through and none is still processing. The customer may already have been charged even if the Orders panel does not show it. If you are unsure, contact Jovvie support before taking another payment.

Stripe readers

“You do not have any readers enabled for this station.”

Symptom: You choose the Stripe card payment method at checkout, but the reader list is empty.

Cause: No readers are turned on for this station.

Fix: Ask an administrator to turn on at least one reader for the station, as described in Set up card readers for a station.

“Connection to Stripe failed. Go to POS > Settings > Stripe Connect.”

Symptom: This message appears when you open checkout or choose the Stripe card payment method.

Cause: The register could not connect to your Stripe account, which it needs to take card payments.

Fix:

Ask an administrator to:

1. In your dashboard, go to POS > Settings > Stripe Connect.
2. Click Link Account. Do this even if the status shows Connected, because the status may not reflect the latest connection check.
3. Follow the prompts to connect your Stripe account again.
4. Wait for Stripe account successfully connected! Payments enabled for processing.
5. Reload the register and try the payment again.

If linking fails, contact support.

“Unable to load Stripe Terminal readers.”

Symptom: The reader list does not load at checkout.

Cause: The register could not get your list of readers from Stripe. A network or service problem may be stopping the list from loading.

Fix:

1. Check that this device is connected to the internet.
2. Reload the register.
3. Try the payment again.
4. If the message continues, check the Stripe connection. See “Connection to Stripe failed. Go to POS > Settings > Stripe Connect.”.

“Please select a terminal.”

Symptom: You click the pay button and see this message.

Cause: No reader is selected.

Fix:

1. Select a reader from the list.
2. Click the pay button again.

“Not connected. Please ensure your device is properly connected.”

Symptom: The Payment Processing window shows this status and the reader does not prompt the customer.

Cause: The register cannot reach the reader.

Fix:

1. Check that the reader is turned on, charged, and connected to the internet.
2. Ask an administrator to check that the reader shows as online in the station’s reader list.
3. Try the payment again.

Message starting with “Unexpected reader disconnect”

Symptom: A message starting with Unexpected reader disconnect appears during a payment.

Cause: The reader lost its connection, for example because it ran out of power or lost its internet access.

Fix:

1. Check the Orders panel and your Stripe Dashboard for a payment that went through or is still processing.
2. Reconnect the reader to power and the internet.
3. Try again only after confirming that no payment for this order went through and none is still processing.

“A payment is already being processed.”

Symptom: You click the pay button and see this message.

Cause: A payment for this order is already in progress, often because the button was clicked twice.

Fix: Wait for the current payment to finish. Do not start a second payment.

“The payment is already processing and can no longer be aborted. Wait for the result.”

Symptom: You click Abort, but the payment continues.

Cause: The payment had already started processing, so it can no longer be stopped.

Fix:

1. Wait for the result.
2. If you need to reverse the payment after it completes, refund the order.

“The aborted card payment may still be processing. Check the payment status before retrying.”

Symptom: You aborted a payment and see this message.

Cause: The payment could not be cancelled in time, so it may still complete.

Fix:

1. Check the Orders panel for this payment.
2. Check your Stripe Dashboard for this payment.
3. Only try again if the payment failed or was cancelled, and no payment for this order is still processing.

If you are not sure, contact support before you take another payment.

“Verify Previous Payment Attempt”

Symptom: A window with this title says a previous payment attempt for this order has an unknown outcome.

Cause: An earlier payment for this order did not report back whether it succeeded.

Fix:

1. Check your Stripe Dashboard for a payment on this order. Look for payments that completed and payments that are still processing.
2. Check the Orders panel for a payment on this order.
3. If the customer was charged, or a payment is still processing, click Cancel. Do not charge again.
4. If no payment completed and none is still processing, click the button that starts with I verified. The register tries the payment again right away.

If you are still not sure, click Cancel and contact support before you take another payment.

“The card payment outcome could not be confirmed. Check the Stripe dashboard before taking another payment for this order.”

Symptom: This message appears after a payment, and the order is put on hold.

Cause: The register could not confirm whether the payment went through.

Fix:

1. Check your Stripe Dashboard for this payment.
2. Only take another payment for the order if the payment failed or was cancelled, and no payment for this order is still processing.

If you are not sure, contact support before you take another payment.

“Native app required for payment transactions.”

Symptom: You see this message instead of a reader list.

Cause: The Stripe card payment method is set to use readers through the Jovvie app on an iPhone, iPad, or Android device, but you are using a web browser.

Fix: Take the payment in the Jovvie app. Or ask an administrator to allow web readers. A web terminal is a reader that connects over the internet and that staff use from a web browser. See the glossary. To allow them:

1. Go to POS > Settings > Gateway. If the station uses its own payment method settings, open the station’s Gateway tab instead.
2. Find Swipe/Insert/Tap in the list.
3. Click Setting next to it.
4. Set Terminal Types to Web terminal or iOS/Android app and Web terminal.
5. Click Save Changes. On the station’s Gateway tab, click Save.
6. Make sure at least one web reader is turned on for the station. See Set up card readers for a station.

“The card reader did not respond. Check the order history to confirm whether the payment went through before trying again.”

Symptom: You are using the Jovvie app and the payment times out.

Cause: The reader connected through the app did not respond in time.

Fix:

1. Check the Orders panel and your Stripe Dashboard for a payment that went through or is still processing.
2. Check the reader’s connection to the app.
3. Try the payment again only after confirming that no payment for this order went through and none is still processing.

If the customer was charged, or you are still not sure, contact support before you take another payment.

NMI terminals

“You do not have any terminals registered.”

Symptom: You choose the NMI payment method at checkout, but no terminals are listed.

Cause: Your NMI account has no registered terminals.

Fix:

1. Register your terminal in your NMI account.
2. Reload the register.

“Unable to load terminals. Please try again.”

Symptom: The terminal list does not load at checkout.

Cause: The register could not get your list of terminals. A network or service problem may be stopping the list from loading.

Fix:

1. Check that this device is connected to the internet.
2. Try again.

“The payment gateway rejected this site’s credentials. Check the NMI API keys in the POS settings.”

Symptom: NMI payments fail with this message.

Cause: The keys saved on the NMI settings tab are wrong or no longer valid. These keys come from a server application (a connection setup that provides keys for your payment connection) in the Jovvie payments gateway dashboard.

Fix: Ask an administrator to:

1. In your dashboard, go to POS > Settings > NMI.
2. Click API Keys. The Jovvie payments gateway dashboard opens in a new tab.
3. Open your server application.
4. Find its public key and secret key.
5. Back on the NMI tab, enter the public key in Public Key.
6. Enter the secret key in Secret Key.
7. Click Save Changes.
8. Check that the status shows Connected.

Message starting with “The payment gateway could not process the terminal request.”

Symptom: The payment does not start on the terminal, and a message starting with this text appears.

Cause: The payment gateway could not process the request. The terminal may be busy with another transaction.

Fix:

1. Look at the terminal.
2. If it is busy with another transaction, complete or cancel that transaction.
3. Try the payment again.
4. If the terminal is idle and the message continues, contact support.

“The NMI terminal gateway supports only two-decimal currencies.”

Symptom: You cannot start an NMI payment for an order.

Cause: The order uses a currency that does not have two decimal places. NMI terminals only support currencies with two decimal places.

Fix: Use a different payment method for this order.

You clicked Abort, but the terminal still shows the payment

Symptom: You clicked Abort and the register shows Payment aborted., but the terminal is still asking for a card.

Cause: On NMI terminals, Abort only stops the register from waiting. It does not cancel the transaction on the terminal itself.

Fix: Cancel the transaction on the terminal as well.

Message starting with “Timed out waiting for the terminal payment result.”

Symptom: The payment stops waiting and shows a message starting with this text.

Cause: The terminal did not report a result in time.

Fix:

1. Check the terminal to see whether the payment went through.
2. If the terminal is still waiting for a card, cancel the transaction on the terminal.
3. Check the Orders panel.
4. Only try another payment method if no payment went through and the terminal transaction is cancelled or failed.

If you are not sure, contact support before you take another payment.

Message starting with “Connection to the payment service was lost.”

Symptom: A message starting with this text appears during an NMI payment.

Cause: The register lost its connection while waiting for the terminal.

Fix:

1. Check the terminal to see whether the payment went through.
2. If you cannot tell whether the customer was charged, contact Jovvie support before you do anything else. Do not click the pay button again or use another payment method.
3. Otherwise, click the pay button again.

When you click the pay button again, what happens next depends on the payment:

• If the payment is still in progress, the register picks it up again and keeps waiting.
• If the payment already went through, the register uses that payment for the order and does not charge again.
• If the payment failed or was cancelled, a new payment starts on the terminal.

Message starting with “A previous attempt to start a terminal payment did not finish and its outcome is unknown.”

Symptom: A message starting with this text appears when you try to pay. A shorter version reads A previous attempt to start this terminal payment has an unknown result.

Cause: An earlier attempt to start a payment on the terminal did not finish, and the result is unknown.

Fix:

1. Check the terminal to make sure the customer was not charged.
2. Check the Orders panel.
3. Click the pay button again only after confirming that no payment for this order went through and none is still processing.

If the customer was charged, or you are still not sure, contact support before you take another payment.

Still need help?

When you contact support, tell them the station name, the message you saw, and the time it happened.

Contact Jovvie support.