[LSR] How to Enable, Configure, and use Offline Mode With Lightspeed Payments

Lightspeed Reference Article: Processing Payments in Standalone and Offline Mode

QUICK LINKS IN THIS ARTICLE

• How Offline Mode Works
• Sales and Refunds Considerations
• Custom Payment Type
• Enabling Offline Mode in Your Lightspeed Retail R Series Account
• Processing Credit Card Payments in Offline Mode
• How to Manually Force a Wise POS E Pin Pad Terminal Into Offline Mode When Connected via a Wired Network Connection
• How to Manually Force a Wise POS E Pin Pad Terminal Into Integrated Payments Mode When Connected via a Wired Network Connection
• How to Manually Force a Wise POS E Pin Pad Terminal Into Offline Mode When Connected via a Wireless Network Connection
• Reporting sales in offline mode
• Generating offline sales for your sales reports
• Processing refunds for standalone transactions
• Refunds and cancellations
• Taxes

With offline mode, you can process credit card payments when you have lost internet connectivity.

Important

Please note that the setup of offline mode and the power cycling of the Wise POS E pin pad terminals MUST be performed prior to encountering a loss of internet connectivity.

Note that by enabling offline mode, you accept responsibility for any expired or declined transactions taken while offline or any resulting chargebacks, in accordance with your platform payment agreements.

Offline credit card payments are not processed or authorized until internet connectivity has been restored to the Wise POS E pin pad terminals.

Offline mode payments with a status of "Offline declined" represent a loss.  Lightspeed can't contact customers on your behalf or provide you with contact information should an offline mode payment be declined or expire.  Collecting a customer's email address to send a receipt may provide you with a way to contact them if the offline mode payment is later declined.

Credit card payments processed in offline mode are NOT synced to the sales history and do not affect your inventory records.  They are reported exclusively in the "Transactions and Payouts" report under "Reports->Lightspeed Payments" in Lightspeed Retail R Series.  This allows you to choose how you would like to account for offline mode sales in a way that best suits your business needs.

Offline mode only works with the Wise POS E pin pad terminal.

Please note that payments processed while in offline mode can only be performed by inserting or tapping the card that is present.  Swiping or manual card entry is not allowed.

Offline mode is currently in beta and may not be available in your account or area.

Regions

• UK / Europe
• Canada (Interac is not supported)
• United States
• Australia (only co-branded EFTPOS cards with the Visa or Mastercard logos are supported)

Payment Methods

• Visa
• Mastercard
• Discover
• American Express

Card Entry Method

• Tap
• Insert

How Offline Mode Works

Once enabled, offline mode allows you to continue processing credit card payments even when the internet connection is temporarily unavailable at the pin pad terminal.

When the pin pad terminal detects that the internet connection isn't available, you will be prompted to enable offline mode to process credit card payments.  You can manually enter the sale amounts and have the customer pay using a credit card payment like normal.

The payment will be stored on the pin pad terminal until the internet connection has been restored.  All stored credit card payments will then be transferred to Lightspeed Payments for processing and merchant portal payments will be updated accordingly.

Email receipts will be sent once the internet connection has been restored and the credit card payment processed by Lightspeed Payments.

Sales and Refunds Considerations

• Credit card payments taken in offline mode are not linked to a sales record in Lightspeed R Series.  They will appear in your payments reporting section under the "Financial Services" section of Lightspeed Retail R Series.
• Amounts entered in offline mode are the final amounts charged to the customer.  The pin pad terminal will not add any taxes or fees to the charge.
• Refunds for credit card payments made in offline mode can only be performed in the "Financial Services" section of Lightspeed Retail R Series.

Custom Payment Type

We highly recommend creating a specific Payment Type for use with Offline Mode.

1. Log into your Lightspeed Retail R Series account.
2. In the left hand window pane, click "Settings".

3. In the main window pane, click "Payment Types" in the section named "Sales".

4. In the main window pane, click "+ New Payment Type" in the upper right corner.

5. Enter the Payment Type as "Offline Credit Card" or the naming convention of your choice, Refund as "All", and enable Require Customer.

6. Click "Save Changes".

This article is separated into two sections listed below.

• Enabling Offline Mode in Your Lightspeed Retail R Series Account
• Processing Credit Card Payments in Offline Mode

Enabling Offline Mode in Your Lightspeed Retail R Series Account

To process credit card payments in offline mode, you have to enable offline mode before internet connection issues occur.  Offline mode settings are found in the "Financial Services" section of Lightspeed Retail R Series.

To enable offline mode, you must first enable standalone mode in your Lightspeed Retail R Series account by following the instructions provided in this article.

1. Log into Lightspeed Retail R Series.
2. In the left hand window pane, click "Reports"

3. In the main window pane, click "Transactions and Payouts" under the section named "Lightspeed Payments".

4. In the main window pane, click "Terminals".

5. Click "Settings".

6. Verify that the toggle button for the option named "Allow standalone mode" is enabled.

7. Click the toggle button for the option named "Allow offline payments".

8. Review the "Allow offline payments" prompt and click "Allow offline payments" to accept.

9. You will see two options named "Per transaction limit" and "Total transaction limit".  The "Per transaction limit" has a default and maximum amount of $5,000 and the "Total transaction limit" has a default and maximum amount of $50,000.  You can change both amounts but you can't go above the maximum amount limits.

10. Review the two amounts and make any changes if needed, and then click "Save" at the bottom of the screen.

11. Follow the instructions in the "Terminal settings saved" screen and then click "OK".

Processing Credit Card Payments in Offline Mode

When a Wise POS E pin pad terminal loses its connection to the internet, the terminal will notify you on the screen stating that it is unable to access the internet.

Email receipts will be sent once the internet connection has been restored and the payment processed by Lightspeed Payments.

While in offline mode, recorded payments can't be canceled or refunded.  You can refund the transaction from your Lightspeed Payments report after the terminal regains internet connectivity and the payment has been processed.

1. Tap "Activate offline payments" in the prompt named "Unable to connect to network".

2. Tap "Activate offline payments" in the prompt named "Activate offline payments".

3. Tap "OK, got it" in the prompt named "Offline payments activated".

4. You will now see that the Wise POS E pin pad terminal is in offline mode and ready to process a credit card payment as shown below.  It will also show you the maximum offline payment amount taking into consideration both pre-defined limits for "Per transaction limit" and "Total transaction limit".

5. Process the credit card payment.
6. The customer will be able to enter an email address where a payment receipt will be sent once the terminal has been able to connect to the internet.  If an email address has been entered, tap "Email receipt".  If the customer doesn't want a receipt emailed to them, tap "Don't email receipt".

7. Once internet connectivity has been restored to the Wise POS E pin pad terminal, you will be notified that it has been restored.  Tap "Resume Integrated payments".

How to Manually Force a Wise POS E Pin Pad Terminal Into Offline Mode When Connected via a Wired Network Connection

1. Unplug the network cable from the bottle of the dock for the Wise POS E Pin Pad Terminal.

2. Tap "Activate offline payments" in the prompt named "Unable to connect to network".

3. Tap "Activate offline payments" in the prompt named "Activate offline payments".

4. Tap "OK, got it" in the prompt named "Offline payments activated".

How to Manually Force a Wise POS E Pin Pad Terminal Into Integrated Payments Mode When Connected via a Wired Network Connection

1. Plug the network cable back into the network port on the bottom of the dock.

2. Once internet connectivity has been restored to the Wise POS E pin pad terminal, you will be notified that it has been restored.  Tap "Resume Integrated payments".

How to Manually Force a Wise POS E Pin Pad Terminal Into Offline Mode When Connected via a Wireless Network Connection

1. Tap the three horizontal lines in the upper left hand corner of the screen.

2. Tap "Settings".

3. Enter the Admin PIN of "07139".

4. In the menu named "Admin options", tap "Network".

5. In the menu named "Choose network", find your wireless network that you are connected to and tap it.

6. In the menu named "Advanced settings", tap "Forget network".  This will disconnect your Wise POS E pin pad terminal from your wireless network.

7. Tap "Forget network" to disconnect from the wireless network.

8. You will be taken back to the "Choose network" menu.  Tap "Back".

9. You will be notified that you are not able to connect to a network.  Tap "Activate offline payments".

10. You will now be instructed to initiate a payment by entering the transaction value directly on the terminal and also that offline payments are only captured once the terminal connects to the internet and will not sync with the POS".  Tap "Activate offline payments".

11. You will now be notified that offline payments have been activated.  Tap "OK, got it".

12. You are now able to enter offline payments.

How to Manually Force a Wise POS E Pin Pad Terminal Into Integrated Payments Mode When Connected via a Wireless Network Connection

1. Tap the three horizontal lines in the upper left hand corner of the screen.

2. Tap "Settings".

3. Enter the Admin PIN of "07139".

4. In the menu named "Admin options", tap "Network".

5. In the menu named "Choose network", find your wireless network that you will reconnect to and tap it.

6. Enter the password for your wireless network and then tap the "Enter" button.

7. You will now see that you have reconnected to your wireless network.

8. In the menu named "Choose network", tap "Back".

9. In the menu named "Admin options", tap "Back".

10. You will now be notified that the terminal has reconnected to the internet and asks you if you want to resume integrated payments.  Tap "Resume integrated payments".

11. Your Wise POS E pin pad terminal will now be back to the idle screen and you can continue processing credit cards in Integrated Payments mode as your normally would.

Reporting sales in offline mode

Payments received in standalone and offline mode do not generate a receipt ID and appear exclusively in your Lightspeed Payment report. This allows you to choose how you would like to account for standalone sales in a way that best suits your business needs.

Sales processed in offline mode will appear instantly in the payments tab of your Lightspeed Payments reports, whereas offline sales will be reported to Lightspeed Payments when the terminal regains connectivity and transmits the offline payments for processing.

1. Navigate to "Financial Services" > "Payments".
2. Click "Filters".
   
3. Select "Channel" > "Standalone" or "Offline".
4. (Optional) You can use the search bar to enter relevant keywords, and/or filter the results using the Filters dropdown to filter by Date, Status, or Payout status.

Generating offline sales for your sales reports

If you would like these sales to appear in your daily totals, you can create a custom payment type to record offline payments. You still manually process the sale on your payment terminal when it's time to charge your customer's card, but use the custom payment type to complete the sale in the POS. Once you complete the sale, the payment type and amount are recorded in your reporting.

Important - If you void or refund the generated sale from your sales report, the funds are not returned to your customer's card. To refund a card, the refund must be processed through the Financial Services tab.

Processing refunds for standalone transactions

1. Navigate to "Financial services" > "Lightspeed Payments"> "Payments".
2. Find the payment you wish to refund.
3. Click on the payment to open the details.
4. Click "Refund".
   
5. Enter the amount to be refunded and a note if applicable.
6. Click "Refund".
7. Process the refund on the terminal and issue a receipt.

Refunds and cancellations

While in offline mode, recorded credit card payments can't be cancelled or refunded.  Only after the terminal regains internet connectivity will you be able to refund payments from the "Transactions and Payouts" report under "Lightspeed Payments" in Lightspeed Retail R Series.

Taxes

Credit card payments performed while in offline mode are the final amounts charged to the customer.  The Wise POS E pin pad terminal will not add any taxes or fees to the charge.