Taking card payments with a reader, QR code or saved card

A card payment in FullColumn is one taken through your salon's own Stripe account: on a Stripe card reader, by a QR code or link the client pays on their phone, or by charging a card the client has saved with you. The money goes to your Stripe account and on to your bank. You'll need Stripe set up first.

A card paid on your own terminal outside FullColumn is recorded as EFTPOS instead: see taking payment.

#Taking a card payment at checkout

1. At checkout, tap Card.
2. Check the Amount. It starts at what's left to pay; change it to take part by card. Card payments are between 50c and $10,000.
3. Choose how the client pays:
   • Card reader: they tap or insert their card.
   • QR code or payment link: they pay on their own phone.
   • Charge saved card · Visa ••4242: the card saved with this appointment, or their card on file, is charged straight away.

When it's paid you'll see "Paid by Visa ••4242" and the payment goes onto the sale with a tick. It can't be changed after that, so add any tip before you start.

#Using a card reader

1. Choose Card reader. The amount is sent to the reader chosen in Settings → Payments.
2. "Waiting for the card on the reader…" shows while the client taps or inserts their card.
3. When it goes through, the payment is added to the sale.

If the reader doesn't answer, the screen says so and keeps checking with Stripe: the reader may have the payment, and the client may already be tapping. No other card payment can start until Stripe says how it went. If nothing's happening on the reader, choose Cancel payment and try again.

If Card reader is greyed out with "Set up a reader in Settings → Payments", no reader has been chosen yet: see adding a card reader.

#Taking payment by QR code or payment link

1. Choose QR code or payment link.
2. Ask the client to scan the QR code with their phone camera, or:
   • Text link to Sam sends the link to the client's mobile
   • Copy link copies it, to send any other way.
3. "Waiting for payment…" shows until they've paid on Stripe's secure page. It's added to the sale as soon as they do.

The payment page stays open for two hours. Handy for a client paying for someone else, or paying after they've left.

#Charging a client's saved card

Charge saved card · Visa ••4242 charges a client's saved card straight away, without the client tapping anything. It names the card it will charge: a card saved with this appointment, marked "(saved with this appointment)", otherwise the client's card on file. A card saved with the appointment shows even when the client has no card on file.

• It needs the Charge saved cards and no-show fees permission: owners and managers have it by default. Without it, the option doesn't show.
• On a Front desk device it says "Charged straight away, after your password" and asks for your password first: see shared devices.
• If Stripe is slow to answer, "Checking with Stripe whether the card was charged…" shows. The card is never charged twice; wait for the answer.
• If the connection drops as you charge it, press it again once you're back online: if the first press got through, that charge is what you'll see, and the card isn't charged again.

#Cancelling a card payment that's under way

While FullColumn waits for the reader or the payment page, press Cancel payment. If the client paid just before it stopped, the payment is kept and added to the sale.

The window can't be closed while a payment is under way: cancel it first, or wait for it to finish. A saved card charge can't be cancelled once it's started; it's over as soon as Stripe answers.

#When a card is declined

If the payment doesn't go through, the window says why, such as the card being declined, or "The payment was cancelled." Nothing has been charged. Try again, choose another way, or close the window and take a different payment.

#Card payments not on a sale

Sometimes a card is paid but the sale isn't finished: the page was closed, the device lost connection, or the payment was taken off the sale. The money isn't lost:

• Taken for an appointment or a client: it goes straight back onto the sale next time you open checkout for them. Payments taken for an appointment also show in its Payments panel, where they can be refunded.
• Taken with no client chosen: every checkout shows "A card payment isn't on a sale" at the top, with the amount, card, time and who took it. Press Add to this sale to put it on the sale on screen, or Refund to give it back.
• Taken for a client without an appointment, then taken off their sale: their checkout shows it the same way, marked as theirs (like "· Sam's"), with Add to this sale or Refund.

Refunding needs the Refund card payments and account credit, and remove saved cards permission.

#Taking a card payment off a sale

Press × on a card payment to take it off the sale. It isn't refunded: FullColumn asks first, and says where the money will wait:

• with the appointment, to use later or refund from the appointment
• with the client: their checkout offers it, to put on a sale or refund
• for nobody in particular, at the top of checkout until it's put on a sale or refunded.

A sale with a card payment on it can't be parked. Finish the sale, or take the card payment off first.

#How clients save a card

A saved card (card on file) lets you charge no-show fees, deposits or a bill without the client there. Clients save one:

• when they book online, if your salon asks for a card on file (Settings → Payments → Online booking payments: see deposits and card on file)
• from a link you send, when they don't have a card on file yet: on an upcoming appointment, open Payments → Request card and choose Send by text or Send by email. The link works for 23 hours and the client isn't charged.

A card saved from a link you sent becomes their card on file. A card saved during an online booking becomes their card on file only if they don't have one yet, and always holds that booking: a no-show fee for it is charged to that card.

The card shows on the client's profile under Details → Card on file, and on their appointments, like "Visa ••4242 · exp 08/28".

#Removing a client's saved card

On the client's profile, under Details → Card on file, press Remove. It can't be charged for fees or at checkout after that; they can save a new one with their next online booking.

This needs Refund card payments and account credit, and remove saved cards. Clients can also remove their own card in the client area.

#Card payments in test mode

When Settings → Payments shows Test mode – no real money moves, card payments are practice ones:

• The card window says "Test mode: no real money moves."
• On a simulated reader, press Simulate a tap (test mode) instead of tapping a card.
• On a payment page, use card 4242 4242 4242 4242 with any future expiry and any CVC.

#Common questions

#Can I take part of the bill by card?

Yes. Change the Amount in the card window, then take the rest another way.

#The client paid by QR code but I closed checkout. Where's the payment?

It's waiting. If you'd chosen the client or it was their appointment, it goes onto their next checkout. Otherwise it's at the top of checkout as a card payment not on a sale.

#Why doesn't Charge saved card show?

The client has no card on file and none saved with this appointment, or you don't have the Charge saved cards and no-show fees permission.

#Do clients pay a card fee?

No. FullColumn never adds a surcharge. Stripe's usual fees come out of what you're paid.