Managing payment methods for the Shopify POS app

You can activate or deactivate different payment methods in Shopify POS so that your customers have a choice of payment options at checkout.

You can manage payment methods available on each POS device separately, as well as set a default accepted payment method list that applies to all new POS devices. This is useful for customizing the payment options available for each POS device. For example, if you have a POS device with no associated cash drawer, then you can deactivate cash as an accepted payment type on just that POS device, and still accept cash at any other POS device.

Some payment methods, such as custom payment methods and Shop Pay Installments, require additional set-up in the Shopify admin before you can activate it in the Shopify POS.

Note

Some payment methods are dependent on others to work, but aren't automatically deactivated when the 'parent' payment method is deactivated. For example, if the payment method accepting Credit and debit is deactivated, then you need to manually deactivate the payment option to Allow manual card entry (MOTO) as well, because you can't manually enter a credit card when you don't accept credit and debit cards.

Setting staff permissions for managing payment methods

You can control which staff members are able to activate or deactivate payment options for in-person sales.

To customize the default payment options list for all POS devices or to customize the specific payment options on an individual POS device, a staff member's role must have access to the Shopify admin and the Point of Sale, and their POS role must grant them Manage payment settings for device permissions. Learn more about required staff permissions for Shopify POS and POS staff management.

Setting a default payment options list for all POS devices

You can set a default list of available payment options for all POS devices from the Point of Sale sales channel in the Shopify admin.

This can be helpful for businesses with a large number of POS devices across many retail locations, as individually activating and deactivating payment methods for each POS device can be effortful when you want most of the POS devices to support similar payment method options.

After you set the default payment options list, you can customize accepted payments on individual POS devices by deactivating from the default payment options list on that individual POS device. However, you can't activate payments on individual POS devices that aren't included in the default list. For example, if the option to Mark as unpaid is deactivated in the default payment options list, then you can't reactivate it on any specific POS device. For this reason, you should activate as many payment options as you think any POS device might require in the default payment options list.

Set the default payment options for all POS devices

Setting the default payment options list for all POS devices can be done only from the Point of Sale sales channel in the admin. Any changes to payment methods made from an individual POS device apply only to that POS device.

Note

Activating or deactivating payment methods for Shopify Payments or Shop Pay Installments redirects to the Payments settings in your Shopify admin.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Point of Sale > Settings.

2. In the Checkout section, click Payments.

3. Customize the payment options that you want to be available by default for every new POS device:

   • Activate or deactivate the associated payment method by selecting the toggle or setting the payment method to be On or Off.
   • Optional: Click ⊕ Custom payment method to add a custom payment method, such as checks or third-party terminals.

4. Click Save.

Activate custom payments for Shopify POS

If you want to accept manual payments that aren't processed by Shopify, such as checks or third-party terminals, then you can set up a custom payment method in your Shopify admin.

There's no additional fees charged when you process payments using custom payment methods. Custom payment methods are for payment tracking purposes.

When a customer uses a custom payment method, the funds aren't processed by Shopify. Verify that any external payment solutions are fully set up with their respective processors before you activate custom payment methods.

Tip

For better payment tracking, when you set up a third-party terminal, you can create one custom payment option for the terminal itself (for example, TD terminal), or you can create custom payment options for each of the card types that's accepted by the terminal (for example, Visa or Mastercard).

The following order details are tracked for custom payment methods:

• Order number
• Associated customer information
• Line items
• Order total, including taxes
• Order date and timestamps
• Custom payment type used

Activating a custom payment method makes it available as a payment option by default for all POS devices. You can deactivate the custom payment method for specific POS devices from the device itself.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Point of Sale > Settings.

2. In the Checkout section, click Payments.

3. Click ⊕ Custom payment method to add a custom payment method.

4. Give the custom payment method a name.

5. Click Save.

Managing payment options for an individual POS device

You and your POS staff can manage which payment options are available on an individual POS device, based on the options that are available in the default payment options list in the Point of Sale sales channel in the Shopify admin.

If a payment option isn't available in the default payment options list, then it isn't possible to activate it from an individual POS device. However, you can deactivate payment options when they don't apply to your POS device. For example, if most of your POS devices are in brick-and-mortar retail locations that accept cash and credit cards, but your newest POS device is used only for pop-up shops where you don't have cash on-hand, then you can deactivate cash as a payment method on just that POS device without impacting every other POS device's ability to accept cash payments.

Steps:

1. From Shopify POS, tap ☰ > Settings > Payments.
2. Tap the toggle to activate or deactivate any of the available payment methods, such as Cash or Credit and debit.
3. Tap Payment options to activate or deactivate any of the available payment options, such as Accept split payments or Allow orders to be marked as unpaid at checkout.

Manage cash payments for a Shopify POS device

By default, cash transactions are activated. If you no longer want to accept cash, then you can deactivate cash transactions. There are no additional fees or charges to the customer or to the store for cash payments.

Steps:

1. From Shopify POS, tap ☰ > Settings > Payments.
2. Tap Cash to activate or deactivate accepting cash payments.
3. Optional: Tap Payment options and then tap Require cash counting at session start and end to activate or deactivate cash tracking.

Managing payment by gift card for a Shopify POS device

Gift cards can increase your sales and help to promote your store when your customers buy them for their family and friends.

Tip

If you want to sell physical gift cards, then you must buy them from the Shopify Hardware Store. You can choose your design and order customizable physical gift cards from the Shopify Hardware Store in supported countries.

Accept gift cards as a payment method on a Shopify POS device

Before you can sell gift cards or accept payments by gift card, you must activate gift cards as a payment method in the Shopify POS app.

Steps:

1. From Shopify POS, tap ☰ > Settings > Checkout > Payment types.
2. Tap Gift cards to activate or deactivate the option to sell and accept payments from gift cards.

Activate issuing gift cards

You can customize the types of gift cards you issue and accept for payment. For example, you can choose to issue and accept only digital gift cards, or you can issue and accept both digital and physical gift cards.

Steps:

1. From Shopify POS, tap ☰ > Settings > Products > Gift cards.
2. Activate either of the following:
   • Issue digital gift cards to sell or accept payments from digital gift cards that you can print and email to customers.
   • Issue digital or physical gift cards to sell or accept payments from both digital and physical gift cards. You'll need to order a supply of physical gift cards from the Shopify hardware store.

Learn more about selling a gift card on Shopify POS.

Activate Shop Pay Installments for Shopify POS

Note

Some stores aren't eligible to use Shop Pay Installments on POS. You can check your store's eligibility for Shop Pay Installments on POS in your Shopify admin.

Before you can accept Shop Pay Installments with Shopify POS, you need to activate Shop Pay Installments for your online store.

After you activate Shop Pay Installments, it's available as a payment option in the Shopify POS app and Point of Sale sales channel. You can include it in your default list of payment options for all POS devices, or you can manage it individually per POS device.

Steps:

Desktop

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Payments.

2. In the Shopify Payments section, click Manage.

3. In the Shop Pay section, ensure that Shop Pay Installments is selected, and then do one of the following actions depending on your eligibility for Premium installments options:

• If you're not eligible for Premium installments options, then in the Shop Pay section, select Enable Shop Pay Installments on Point of Sale.
• If you're eligible for Premium installments options, then click Manage. In the Point-of-sale section, check Enable Shop Pay Installments point of sale.
• If the Point-of-sale section isn't visible, then you first need to select a financing package for Shop Pay Installments.

4. Click Enable on the dialog box to confirm.

iPhone

1. From the Shopify app, tap > Settings.

2. In the Store settings section, tap Payments.

3. In the Shopify Payments section, tap Manage.

4. In the Shop Pay section, ensure that Shop Pay Installments is selected, and then do one of the following actions depending on your eligibility for Premium installments options:

• If you're not eligible for Premium installments options, then in the Shop Pay section, select Enable Shop Pay Installments on Point of Sale.
• If you're eligible for Premium installments options, then tap Manage. In the Point-of-sale section, check Enable Shop Pay Installments point of sale.
• If the Point-of-sale section isn't visible, then you first need to select a financing package for Shop Pay Installments.

5. Tap Enable on the dialog box to confirm.

Android

1. From the Shopify app, tap > Settings.

2. In the Store settings section, tap Payments.

3. In the Shopify Payments section, tap Manage.

4. In the Shop Pay section, ensure that Shop Pay Installments is selected, and then do one of the following actions depending on your eligibility for Premium installments options:

• If you're not eligible for Premium installments options, then in the Shop Pay section, select Enable Shop Pay Installments on Point of Sale.
• If you're eligible for Premium installments options, then tap Manage. In the Point-of-sale section, check Enable Shop Pay Installments point of sale.
• If the Point-of-sale section isn't visible, then you first need to select a financing package for Shop Pay Installments.

5. Tap Enable on the dialog box to confirm.

After you've activated Shop Pay Installments as a payment method for in-person sales, you can include it in your default list of accepted payment options for all POS devices, or you can manage accepting it individually per POS device.