Handpoint is proud to be able to offer an online Terminal Management System to manage merchants and their card readers. Please get in touch with us if you would like to learn more about how you can get an account for the Handpoint Portal's TMS.
Introduction to TMS
The Handpoint TMS is a web-based terminal management system for easy setup and management of your merchant's card readers.
Who is it for?
It's meant for any organization that needs to manage and onboard merchants on the Handpoint payment platform.
How is it used?
To onboard a merchant in the Handpoint TMS, you are able to create and configure merchant information, assign terminals to specific merchants, and extract the merchant key (Shared Secret Key and/or API KEY).
Overview of the onboarding workflow
The Handpoint TMS requires just a few pieces of information to set up and activate a merchant:
VAR sheet information is provided by the processor.
The serial number of the Handpoint card reader
Use the VAR sheet to CREATE a merchant profile in the TMS
Next, use the TMS to ASSIGN the correct card readers to that merchant and easily EDIT special terminal features, e.g., tipping
Finally, the TMS generates a SHARED SECRET that is the “key” for merchants’ terminals. This key must be provided to an SWP (Software Partner) if they are storing the keys, or to the merchant directly if they are using the Handpoint app.
Gaining access to the TMS
Access to the Handpoint Terminal Management System is provided to selected partners and is requested through your account manager.
The following basic information is needed to create a new partner profile:
Partner name
Name of organization, company, etc
Location information
Address, City, Zip Code,
State and Country
Contact information
Phone number
Email
NOTE: You will receive login information via email after your organisation has been set up in the TMS. An organization might be provided with more than one login to the TMS. This can occur if a processor is supporting multiple SWPs or if an SWP is working with more than one processor.
Getting Started in the TMS - Front page
The TMS front page provides you with quick access to the most common actions you can take.
From here you can create merchants and assign terminals, or go directly to your management view of your merchants and terminals.
Create Merchant: This allows you to set up a new merchant.
Assign Terminals to Merchant: This allows you to assign card readers to a specific merchant.
Assign Terminals to Partner: This allows you to assign a bulk of card readers.
Clicking the dropdown menu on the right lets you update your user profile.
Change User Password
It is possible to change the password. Clicking on User Profile we will see the following:
We strongly recommend changing the password when Handpoint creates a new user for an SWP.
Management page
The management page provides you with a detailed view of your onboarded merchant's terminals.
Creating a Merchant
On the front page, you can create merchants and assign terminals, as well as have access to all other actions from this single page.
Data can be organized in a hierarchical view from a merchant perspective or a flat view as a list of terminals.
Data can be filtered by the merchant or terminal information for a quick lookup when needed.
Management Page Navigation
Information can be grouped by merchants or viewed as a list of terminals. In this case, the merchant view is displayed.
This is the hierarchical view of terminals assigned to merchants
Here you can create new merchants, assign multiple terminals, some Group Actions and Report (generates a report on the devices assigned to each merchant)
More dropdown and Edit Merchant:
More: Allows to generate and consult the available API Key of the merchant, Reset the merchant password and Delete the merchant.
Edit merchant: Merchant information can be updated here if needed, and below this, terminal information can be updated.
A list of your assigned/unassigned terminals can be found here. Contact Handpoint to have new terminals added to this list.
More dropdown and Edit Merchant:
More: Unassign terminal from the merchant
Edit terminal: Terminal information can be updated here if needed.
Searching and Filtering
The TMS comes with a filtering tool to help you quickly find what you need. It updates the list view below dynamically based on what you input. The dataset it searches through is linked to the selected view (Merchants or Terminals) and is filtered based on all fields for that particular type of entity. The filter box will generate a suggestion of what was found according to what was entered by the user. To see the complete results of the search we have to press Enter.
Then simply enter a part of the terminal's serial number into the filtering field – the last 4 digits should suffice. The list updates automatically when it finds data which matches the criteria.
If you want to filter by a merchant's name, location, ID, category code, etc. Simply enter what you are looking for in the filter box and the results will be updated automatically.
Creating Merchants in the System
Creating a merchant is the first step in onboarding merchants to the Handpoint platform:
Here you fill in the relevant information from the merchant (Merchant name, MCC, Location information, etc..).
Select the relevant ISV and Acquirer.
Select the Card Token Provider (If it is a card token it will be used).
The Shared Secret Key can be found in the Authentication information section. (Needed for Native Integrations).
Card NOT Present information. MOTO (Mail Order / Telephone Order) can be enabled from this point.
SmartPOS Terminals: The merchant is using the terminal integrated with a point of sale or The merchant is using the terminal as a standalone.
mPOS terminals: Select the default language.
The Handpoint Merchant ID is generated by the system based on what is input in the Merchant Name field.
After the information has been input, press Save. You can stop and restart this process. Once the Merchant Information is complete, you will be given the option to immediately Publish the information and activate the merchant.
Which fields are required?
Typically all fields are required, and the system will let you know if it’s missing some required fields.
Assigning terminals to merchants
Terminals can be assigned from 3 different places in the TMS: from the front page, the top of the management page, or next to an unassigned terminal. They all lead to the same process.
This will bring up a view where you are able to select a merchant and assign one or more terminals to it. Terminals are identified by the Serial Number found on the back of the terminal.
After assigning a terminal to a merchant, the next step is to Edit that terminal and finish the setup from the VAR sheet.
To Edit a terminal, locate the terminal in the management view and click Edit terminal.
Editing a terminal
Editing a terminal is the final stage in finalizing the onboarding
You can copy duplicate information from the merchant setup to speed up the process.
Fields in the terminal information section might differ depending on which processor the merchant is setup for
Can I start creating a merchant without assigning terminals?
Yes. It is very possible to first create the merchant and then add the terminal later on when the serial number for that terminal is known.
Where do I locate the Serial Number?
The terminal serial number can be found on the back of the Card Reader and its packaging. It is a unique identifier for the terminal.
When do changes go live?
Changes are live as soon as they are published. However, changes that propagate to the card reader do not go live until the card reader connects to the gateway, i.e., through a transaction or an update. Then the terminal will automatically download and update itself. This generally takes less than a minute to complete.
Save and publish when done.
Locating the Shared Secret
The shared secret is the key to merchants’ terminals – It needs to be delivered to the organization responsible for storing the key on the behalf of the merchant. Typically it is the ISV’s responsibility.
The shared secret is a randomly generated string of text and is the same for all terminals in a single merchant account. It is generated randomly but can be edited by Handpoint admins only.
To locate the shared secret click Edit Merchant next to the merchant listing in the management page. This will bring up the Merchant Information view.
Locate the Shared Secret field.
Double-click on the text to highlight the shared secret, right-click, and choose Copy.
You should now be able to paste it into the tool of your choice for sending
Tipping Configuration
Handpoint supports tipping on the card reader. If enabled, the cardholder is prompted to tip on the card reader during a sale. The cardholder can choose between preset values, a custom value, or “No Tip” before commencing with the transaction.
Tipping is enabled per terminal and custom values can be configured both on a merchant level and terminal level.
On the merchant level, you can configure custom tip values – This is done in the Edit Merchant or Create Merchant views
Tipping has to be enabled per terminal and custom values can be configured further there if needed. This is done in the Edit Terminal view.
Tip Adjustment (EVO and Tsys)
Handpoint card readers support tipping at the point of sale where the tip amount is added directly on the card reader as an extra step during the sale transaction.
To enable this, you must choose the option while assigning terminals to the merchant.
TSYS
EVO
Deleting and unassigning
Merchants can be deleted and terminals can be unassigned.
Obviously, deleting a merchant is a high risk operation and should only be done if there was an error during the onboarding and it is considered quicker to just delete and start over.
Terminals can be unassigned from merchants. This is done if, e.g., a merchant returns the device to you for replacement or to upgrade to an alternative Handpoint device, such as the HiPro. Merchants with no assigned terminals are considered inactive.
When terminals are unassigned from a merchant they are moved to the list of unassigned terminals.
Both deleting and unassigning is done from the More dropdown button next to an item in the management view.
Reusing Terminals
Terminals can be reused and moved from merchant to merchant. In order to do so, the following best practices help ensure a smooth merchant experience and minimze the risk of additional customer support.
Unassign terminal from old merchant
Assign alternative terminal to new merchant
Update terminal information
Extract and send the shared secret
Do a flash reset on the card reader with simple instructions provided to the merchant
Initiate an update to the card reader
Point 5 and 6 can be done by the merchant, and require minimal effort.
You can find the Powerpoint version of this guide here: