Handpoint portal: Managing & Configuring Merchants

Within the Management Page of the Handpoint portal, you can create and configure merchants to your partner account. Please note that the any change is effective immediately and might prevent your merchants from taking payments.

It is advisable that you only perform changes to the merchants after training and agreement with Handpoint. Please contact Handpoint support team if you need to create merchants and have questions about it.

Creating a Merchant profile

The Handpoint portal TMS requires just a few pieces of information to set up and activate a merchant in just a few minutes.

  • Merchant’s information (including MID provided by the processor).

  • The serial number(s) of the Handpoint card reader(s)   

You can access the merchant configuration screen to create a new merchant from:

Home page - on the Create merchant quick access link.

Management page - on the Create button on the top of the page, next to the search bar.

 

Configuring Merchants

After you click Create Merchant, or after selecting ‘Edit Merchant’ on a live merchant, you will access the merchant configuration screen. Please note that some configuration is only relevant depending on the card reader to be used. From this screen you can configure:

  • Merchant information, such as Company name, MCC, Location and Contact details, etc.
    For users of the mPOS app - Datecs devices, specific information on this screen is quite important:
    - email address: this is the e-mail address that should be used when signing-in to the app
    - phone number: a mobile number can receive a text message as an alternative method to sign-in to the app. Please include the country code (eg. 0034 or +34).

  • ISV: select Handpoint if the merchant is using our Standalone mPOS or smartPOS app -either as Handpoint or co-branded-. ISV stands for Independent Software Vendor or the POS solution you are integrated with.

  • Acquirer: select one from the list per your validation with Handpoint.
    Please note: If you would like to offer your merchant additional card schemes, such as AMEX, then you will need to add an additional agreement. All the acquirer certifications associated to your solution should appear in this drop-down box.

  • MID: Merchant Identification, a reference number provided by the acquirer to identify the merchant account. It is vital to input this number correctly to process payments.

  • Tokenisation Support: If you are delivering an omni-channel solution and your account supports Tokenisation, simply click the dropdown box to confirm the card token provider.
    Please note: If you think you require tokenisation functionality but do not see it as an option on yourTMS account, then please contact your Account Manager at Handpoint.

  • Refunds information: Option to enable refunds and to limit this to refunds with the original card, also known as linked refunds. It is recommended that you only allow refunds with the original card (linked refunds)

  • Pre-authorization: Option to enable pre-authorization if this is approved by the acquirer. NOTE- pre-auths require specific approval for the merchant to take them. A Pre-Authorization charge, also known as a pre-auth or authorization hold, is a temporary hold placed on a customer's payment card. It's used to verify that the account is valid and has sufficient funds to cover a pending transaction, without actually debiting the cardholder's account upfront. This is typical in hotels, car rentals, etc.
    Instructions to take pre-auths are included in the App Guide.




  • Card NOT Present payments: MOTO (Mail Order / Telephone Order) can be enabled on this screen. Please note that if you include an Ecommerce MID on this page, the merchant still needs to be configured in Handpoint ecommerce Smartboard.



  • Terminal mode: Only relevant for smartPOS terminals and partners who have Cloud POS enabled.

smartPOS - PAX devices (PAX A920, PAX A920PRO, PAX A80,…)
If the merchant is using the terminals as Standalone (not integrated), please select:
Allow using Handpoint SmartPOS terminals as a standalone.

 

mPOS - Datecs devices (HiLite, Hi5,..)

  • Add customized terminal idle screen: Leave this option UNCHECKED.

  • Default language: If the desired language is not an option here, speak with your
    Account Manager at Handpoint to understand if that can be made possible.

  • Tipping: This option enables tipping on the card reader and allows the configuration of the tipping options.

 

  • Theme: This applies your cobranded app to the merchant. Follow the instructions provided by the Handpoint team about it.

 

You can save an incomplete profile and edit it at a later stage. Once the Merchant Information is complete, you would need to Publish in order to activate the merchant.

 

In the case of Handpoint managing the terminal delivery to the merchant, if the phone number included is a mobile number, it can be used to send a notification on the day of the card reader delivery.

 

Which fields are required?

Typically all fields are required. The system will let you know if some required fields are missing before activating the merchant.

Merchant Key

Where is the merchant key?

The merchant key is an authentication key to bind the merchant profile with the payment terminal. This is only important if you are integrating with Handpoint.
If your merchant is using the mPOS or smartPOS app as standalone, then you don’t need this merchant key.

  • Partners with Native integrations - the merchant key is found on this screen as Shared Secret Key.

  • Partners with Cloud integrations - the merchant key can be created when publishing the merchant. Remember to copy or download the Merchant API key at that moment, since afterwards it will not be visible. If necessary, you can create a new API key from the merchant page.

 

Assigning terminals to merchants

Only the terminals that are assigned to your partner profile are available to be assigned to your merchants. Terminals can be assigned from 3 different places in the Handpoint portal, all leading to the same process:

  • from the home page, with the Assign Terminals quick access,

  • from the top of the management page, with the Assign terminals button, or

  • from the options on an unassigned terminal.

On the Assign terminal screen, you are able to select a merchant and one or more terminals to assign to it. A few options might appear depending on your configuration, such as Tipping at table. Please do not change the Software or Firmware version.

The terminals are identified by the Serial Number found on the back of the card reader. If you don’t find the Serial Number in the list of available terminals, it may be that it is assigned to another merchant or that it is not yet assigned to your partner profile.

 

If you have located the terminal you wish to assign in your unassigned terminal list from the Management page, it is only necessary to click on Assign terminal button and select the corresponding merchant.

 

On the following screen you can edit the terminal configuration. The acquirer information shall be displayed with some fields pre-populated. Please complete the remaining details. This may include: Merchant ID, Acquirer ID, or Terminal ID.

In order to make the assignation effective, click on Assign, Continue (if required), Publish and finally Done. The card reader should appear under the merchant name on the Management view with status [A]. Otherwise please review the configuration and Publish again.

Editing a terminal

Once you assign a terminal to a merchant, editing a terminal is the final stage in the merchant onboarding.

To Edit a terminal once it is assigned to a merchant, locate the terminal in the management view and click Edit terminal.  You can duplicate the information from the merchant setup to speed up the process.

The fields required on this step might differ depending on which processor the merchant is setup for.

You can also enable tipping on this screen.

In order to make the changes effective, click on Save and Publish, Publish (if required), and finally Done. The card reader should appear under the merchant name on the Management view with status [A]. Otherwise please review the configuration and Publish again.

 

 

Can I start creating a merchant without assigning terminals?

Yes. It is very possible to first create the merchant and add the terminal later on when you know the serial number for the card reader shipped to the merchant.

Where do I locate the Serial Number?

The terminal serial number can be found on the back of the Card Reader and on its packaging. It is a unique identifier for the terminal, and it is critical to input this number correctly into the TMS.

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. At that moment, the reader will automatically download the new configuration and update itself.  This generally takes less than a minute to complete.

 

 

Deleting and unassigning

  • Deleting a merchant:

    • 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 PAX A920 PRO. Merchants with no assigned terminals are considered inactive.

  • Unassigning a terminal:

    • When terminals are unassigned from a merchant they are moved to the list of unassigned terminals (terminals view).

 

Both deleting and unassigning are 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 minimise the risk of additional customer support.

 

smartPOS - PAX devices (PAX A920, PAX A920PRO, PAX A80,…)

  1. Unassign the terminal from old merchant

  2. Assign terminal to new merchant

  3. Clear the cache of the device following the instructions.

  4. The terminal will get its new configuration after restarting the application

 

mPOS - Datecs devices (HiLite, Hi5,..)

  1. Unassign the terminal from old merchant

  2. Assign terminal to new merchant

  3. Update terminal information if needed

  4. Extract and send the shared secret if needed by your integration

  5. Perform a flash reset following the instructions

  6. Initiate an update to the card reader

Steps 5 and 6 can be done by the merchant, as they require minimal effort.

 

Tipping Configuration

Handpoint supports tipping on the card reader only on mPOS terminals. 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”. Tipping is enabled per terminal and custom values can be configured both on a merchant and on a terminal level.

Merchant:

Configure tip values on the Edit Merchant screen. It is possible to use the default values ​​or use custom values ​​that you choose

 

Terminal:

Tipping must be enabled on a merchant level to further configure the option on a terminal by terminal case if needed. This is done in the Edit Terminal screen.

After making the changes, click Save and Publish.

 

Merchant password - Reset password

If your merchants are using Handpoint’s mPOS or smartPOS apps, the merchant might need a merchant password to access certain features or to do a refund for instance. This is a code setup by the merchant on the onboarding of the app.

If the merchant has forgotten the merchant password, you are able to reset it on the Handpoint portal TMS. By doing so, the merchant is free to change the merchant password on the settings of the app during the selected Timeframe only.

To reset the merchant password:

  1. Locate the merchant on the Management view

  2. Select More dropdown menu next to the merchant name

  3. Select Reset merchant password

  4. Choose the timeframe from the drop-down options (you are setting the allocated time in minutes/hours for when the merchant must reset their password on their mPOS app or on their smartPOS card reader).

  5. Select Reset password

  6. To finish, click on Close

 

 

If you have any questions, please contact Handpoint support team: support@handpoint.com 📬

 

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