Taking card payments
Stripe under the hood: readers, keyed entry, tips, and going live.
Aced processes cards through Stripe. Until your own Stripe keys are connected, the register runs in simulation mode — every screen works, cards "approve," and nothing charges. That's on purpose: train your staff for free, then flip to live.
Going live
- Create a Stripe account (stripe.com) and complete their onboarding.
- In Settings → Payments, paste your publishable and secret keys.
- Ring a $1 test sale and refund it. You're live.
Ways to take a card
- Card reader — Stripe Terminal readers (WisePOS and compatible) pair in Settings → Payments and take tap, chip, and swipe.
- Keyed entry — type the card number for phone orders. Higher processing rate, same flow.
- QR / link — invoices, gift cards, memberships and saved-card setups can all be paid by the customer on their own phone.
- Card on file — with the customer's consent, save a card via a QR code they scan; it can then cover no-show fees and membership installments automatically.
Tips, splits & refunds
- Tip prompts appear on the customer display when one is paired, or on the register screen if not.
- A sale can split across two cards, or card + cash, or use store credit for part.
- Refunds go back to the tender that paid — per line or whole sale — and the drawer math and reports stay exact.
Who pays the processing fee?
By default, you do — it's a cost of taking cards. If you'd rather pass it to the customer, Aced has two compliant ways: a credit-card surcharge or cash-discount pricing. See Passing card costs to the customer.