Credit Card Machine Not Working? Troubleshooting [Fixed]

Welcome to the Ultimate Guide to Fix All the “Credit card Machine Issues“

I’ll cover the Most Important Troubleshooting Steps here.

[Including fixes for Credit card machine not working, not connecting to the internet, not reading the chip, not printing on paper, not working after power outage.. and many more]

And also I’ll cover everything you need to know about the Credit card Machines

Let’s jump right in!

Business starts and ends with customers and customers only, it doesn’t matter which type of business you are in, and either it is a retail store, restaurant, or any other selling business.

And this era is the card era. Customers use their debit and credit cards for any small or heavy shopping. So as a retail merchant, you know how much a credit card machine or payment terminal values to you.

But have you ever thought about what will happen if your EMV will stop working? What can be the consequence if your EMV will work slowly as compared to other stores next to you?

It can be possible that within few days only you will end up losing all your customers to the store next to you. And once your customers’ getaway you will end up with nothing but to close the business.

So to avoid such kind of situations, we are going to provide you basics of your payment terminal and what can be the reasons if it is not working and last but not the least how will you deal with such situations when it’s not working or slow working because we know that proper planning can sometimes make all the difference. So whether your card machine is playing up, or your internet is down, our survival tips will make sure your business is always ready.

PAYMENT TERMINAL & CARDS

With most deals exchanges being paid for with credit and debit cards today, Payment Terminal is a helpful, exact, and secure approach to process the financial transaction. Depending on the model and your payment service provider, you can quickly process cards independently or alongside your POS system.

Also Read: Problem With Credit Card Chip? Fix it Now

HOW IT WORKS

Customers swipe, insert, or hold their card (depending on the type of terminal) near to the machine to transfer transaction details. After this, the payment terminal transfers the data to the concerned bank for authorization and finally transfers the funds from the customer’s account to the merchant’s account.

Typically there are three types of payment terminals. They are:

• Stationary credit card processing machines
  often used for face to face transactions such as retail stores, restaurants, etc.
• Wireless credit card processing machines
  With the advancement in technology, the wireless payment terminal becomes the most efficient and secure to improve the business. It has the same features as a stationary system.
• Virtual credit card terminals
  For virtual stores like Amazon, eBay, etc. this type of payment terminal is being used. With a virtual terminal, merchants can accept online payments safely from any computer.

Garbage Disposal Not Working [FIX IT NOW!]

REASONS OF PAYMENT TERMINAL NOT WORKING:

#1 Faulty credit card
It may be possible that the actual problem is with the card, and due to that, the payment terminal is declining the payment repeatedly. Some major card problems can be like:

• The card number entered is wrong or invalid
• The card is expired
• Insufficient funds in the card
• Reached maximum limit
• The issuing bank marks the card lost or stolen, etc.

#2 Payment terminal battery issue

The average time of the terminal battery lasts around 60-65 hours. So the merchant must charge the terminal each night for a few hours, all set for the next day.

#3 Not updated

Before using it, at least check the receipt paper rolls, essential software updates for the smooth functioning of the terminal. Overhauls may now and then be required to oblige innovation like contactless payments.

#4 Connectivity

It’s vital to have a reliable and robust internet connection for industries like retail because their day to day transaction on their POS system is dependent on strong and secure Wi-Fi.

#5 Software Problems

One of the essential things to do for your payment terminals is to update the software and customize your POS system if you don’t want to experience technical issues at your busiest.

#6 Errors while Reading the Card:

Sometimes the card reader cannot read the magnetic stripes or chip of the card, which holds the information because of dirt and dust on it, and thus transaction declines. In this case, the quick cleaning of your card would make it readable. For more details on how to clean your card, read the previous article.

#7 VIRUS

POS systems are computers with internet connectivity that can catch the virus very often. Or someone can hack your system, it’s possible. This is why it’s advised to use point of sale terminals for this purpose alone. And use another computer for browsing or non-related activities.

Along with that, there can be other reasons like power failure, the problem with the cables, problem with the printer, and loss of sensitivity to touchpad’s of POS and so on. The list is huge.

Anyway Let’s see how to manage this ‘Credit card machine not working‘ situation

What To Do When the Credit Card Machine is Down

1. Find the problem
   First, find where the problem is? It’s with a credit card, POS system, Payment terminal, down internet connection, or power cut. After getting a valid reason, think about how to handle it and whom to contact.
2. Talk to your customers
   First, apologize to the customer if you are in the middle of a transaction. Give a clear picture of the situation. Listen to them, show empathy, and understand their situation. You may not resolve the problem at the moment, but at least you can salvage the relationship with your customer for the long term.
3. Ask customers to try paying with another card
   Make yourself updated and ready for this kind of scenario and be ready to accept all types of cards. Then ask them if they have any other card for payment. Spread your payment potential to them.
4. Take payment that isn’t Chip and PIN
   Accept other modes of payments like online or phone payments or at last cash. Keeping track of payment trends and staying ahead of the curve is always a good idea, so continually update yourself about current payment trends of the market.
5. Call support service
   Along with dealing with everything, one must make a quick call to the service provider as soon as possible. According to the situation, they will send another machine as quickly as possible.
   
   Verifone Customer Service
   Elavon Customer Service

HOW TO REBOOT YOUR CREDIT CARD MACHINE

Credit-card terminals allow you to enhance your business and serve more customers by accepting credit card payments but do occasionally encounter problems. Follow the instructions carefully.

Try rebooting your router and terminal by:

• Remove the power link of the terminal and switch.
  • Unplug the links interfacing with the hardware.
  • Wait around 30 seconds. Reconnect the links and the power on the gadgets from the divider to the terminal.

wait for 1 minute for the terminal application to restart and initiate the connection with the router.

Restart Card EMV Reader:

• Hold down the power button of your reader until the lights turn off.
•  Wait for 10 seconds. 
• Then hold the power button until the lights come on again and release the power button.

There should now be one blinking blue light, indicating that your EMV card reader has restarted.

CREDIT CARD MACHINE RUNNING SLOW

It is important to keep your machine up to date for the smooth working. there are many other reasons which can cause a slow experience, includng

• Old Firmware
• Cheap Hardware
• Network and security problems
• Careless usage of the device

To solve this problem, Brands like Visa and MasterCard came forward and introduced Quick Chip and M- Chip Fast. This improvement requires just a moderately straightforward software update to the shipper’s card terminal and (POS) framework. Let’s discuss in details:

WHAT’S QUICK CHIP?

Quickchip is just a software update but an important one. With this, you can reduce the time of POS system transaction for chip card or magnetic stripe card authorization from 10-12 seconds to only 2-3 seconds long.

The best thing about the quick chip is that you don’t have to purchase new pieces of equipment for that. You have to inform your issuer about the quick chip update you want for your EMV or POS system. And that’s it.

Watch this video to better understand Quick chip

Check Out: Credit card Chip Not Working – 2020 [Effective Steps]

M/Chip Fast

This is similar to a quick chip, but it’s MasterCard’s version. M Chip fast, the name itself denotes that it’s something which reduces the time of the things going in slow motion and makes it fast in just one-step authentication. Customers won’t have to wait in line anymore.

VERIFONE credit card machine not working

Verifone is one of the leading brands in credit card payment terminals. Some famous models of this brand are Verifone Vx 520 EMV, Verifone 3750 (Omni), and NFC (contactless) payment terminals.

What to do when your Verifone credit card payment terminals do not work. Reasons can be many like:

• Wi-Fi connectivity
• Physical damage
• Undetected chip card or magnetic stripe cards
• Other technical issues, and so on.

There are many things to do, but first, try to fix the troubleshooting and reboot the device as in many cases it works. You need to:

1. Unplug the Payment terminal system from the power source.

2. Wait for around 30 to 40 seconds.

3. Plug it back and switch it in reboot mode.

4. Go back to the pay screen, and then select the sales screen. 5. If still it’s not working then call the technical support team

This Troubleshooting steps tested on VX 510, ‎VX 520, ‎VX 675, ‎VX 680, ‎VX 805, VX 820

ELAVON credit card machine not working

Elavon is the 4th largest credit card transaction processor of the U.S with more than 10 million merchant locations across the world. Some popular products of Elevon are Poynt 5 and Poynt 61. These are the brilliant Smart payment terminal that has made another standard of flawless Payment experience for retailers and clients. It’s Brilliant and simple to utilize.

But what should you do when these contactless Smart terminals stop working all of a sudden?

There can be many reasons like:

• Wi-Fi connectivity
• Physical damage
• Undetected chip card or magnetic stripe cards
• Other technical issues and so on.

And like I said, there can be many things to do but first, try to restart it at first convenience. For that you need to:

1. Press and hold the power button behind the main screen for 3 seconds. 
2. A menu will appear.
3. Select reboot the device.

Just like that, you can save yourself from the extra burden of repairing the devices.

Tested on Ingenico TETRA DESK/5000, Ingenico iPP315, Ingenico TETRA MOVE/5000 iCT220, iCT250, iWL220 and iWL250 credit card machines.

Conclusion:

So, we see that the more problems with your POS system that you can prevent ahead of time, the more hassle-free it will be to run your operation on a day-to-day basis and avoid unnecessary headaches at every turn. And for that, you need to little aware of the technology you are using and ideas to handle it. Be up to date in your business; otherwise, you will lose the race.

For more details about how to handle your POS system Bookmark this page we’ll update this article in the coming days, and if you like this article, do share with your friends and others who need to know about it

One more thing add your suggestion and problems in the comment section below, we’ll try to add solutions for that too.

Thanks for reading:)