Before you start
Have your merchant account details, the terminal, and a network connection ready. For wireless devices, confirm the Wi-Fi credentials or that the SIM is active while the room is empty. Power the terminal and wait until it comes online. Place it where the customer can reach it and tap without leaning across the counter. If another provider's reader is still in use that morning, leave it plugged in until the new one has passed its tests. Save the network before the first guest arrives. The rest of the checklist starts once the reader has power, a path online, and a spot the customer can use.
The setup steps
- Connect power and network; wait for the device to come online.
- Sign in with your merchant credentials.
- Run a small test sale (then void or refund it).
- Confirm tap, chip and Interac debit each complete successfully.
- Set tip prompts, tax and receipt preferences (print, email, text).
- Settle a test batch to confirm funding is configured.
Train your staff in two minutes
Show staff how to start a sale, accept tap and chip, issue a refund, and reprint a receipt. Do it on the terminal they will use, before the door opens. Have a second person run the refund so the owner is not the only one who knows that menu. Reprint one receipt and check the business name guests will see. If the lane takes debit, add one Interac tap to the same lesson. Keep a one-page cheat sheet by the till for the first week, where the closer stands. Those actions cover a normal shift on a new device.
If something isn't working
Most first-day failures are the network, not the card. Restart the terminal, confirm it is on the same network you tested at close the night before, and run one small sale on a card you control. If the screen says approved but the till did not record it, write down the time and the amount before you run it again. Armour Payments support is available 24/7. If you are still on the old provider's device during the changeover, follow how to switch payment terminals so staff are not guessing which unit is live. For anything that is not a simple restart, contact us with the terminal model and the exact message on the screen.
Monday open at a new cafe counter
The cafe terminal arrived on Friday and was powered on Monday with a line at the pastry case. Wi-Fi had never been saved, the tip prompt was one nobody had chosen, and the first tap sat on a spinning screen. The ten-minute setup belongs before the door unlocks: power, network, sign-in, a small test sale, then void it. Confirm tap, chip, and Interac while the cafe is empty. Place the reader where the guest can reach it without leaning across the espresso machine. If you are replacing another provider the same morning, leave the old unit plugged in until this list passes. The overlap is covered in how to switch payment terminals. Contact us if the device will not come online after a restart and a network check.
The first hour after the test sale
A voided test sale only proves the reader can authorize. Watch the first real sales on the counter. Does the receipt show the cafe name a guest will recognize on a statement? Does the tip prompt match a counter order, or is it still set for a table? Can a second person run a refund without calling the owner? Reprint one receipt on purpose so staff see the menu path while the room is calm. Settle on day one, even if the batch is small, so funding is a known path. Keep the one-page cheat sheet where the closer stands. If tap fails on only one card brand, note it before the lunch rush and check EMV, tap, and wallets. Support is available 24/7 when the failure is the network.