Lightspeed Payments relies on a stable internet connection to process payments. In the event your internet connection becomes unstable or temporarily unavailable, you can continue to process payments in offline mode (when enabled) until the connection is restored.

Offline mode availability

This feature is currently in beta and may not be available in your account or area. Offline mode is only available with the Smart Terminal (WisePOS E).

*In Canada, Interac is not supported.

**In Australia, only co-branded EFTPOS cards (Visa or Mastercard logo) are accepted.

How offline mode works

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

When the terminal detects that the internet connection has been lost, you will be prompted to enable offline mode to process payments. You can manually enter the sale amounts and have the customer pay using a card payment like normal.

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

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

Sales and refunds considerations

• Payments taken in offline mode are not linked to a sales record. They will appear in your payments reporting under the Financial services section of Retail POS.
• Amounts entered in offline mode are the final amounts charged to the cardholder. The terminal will not add any taxes or fees to the charge.
• Refunds for transactions made offline can only be performed in the Financial services section of Retail POS.

Enabling offline mode

To process payments in offline mode, you have to enable offline mode before internet connection issues arise. Offline mode settings are found in the Financial services section of Retail POS.

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 agreement.

1. In Retail POS, navigate to Finance > Terminals.
2. Identify the terminal you wish to enable offline mode for and click Settings.

   

3. Click the Allow offline payments toggle.

   

4. Review the Allow offline payments prompt and click Allow offline payments to accept.

   

5. Review the Per transaction limit and Total transaction limit, adjusting as required, then click Save.

   

   The Per transaction limit and Total transactions limit are pre-filled with the maximum permitted limits. You can choose to lower these limits to suit your business needs, however, these cannot be raised higher than the pre-file maximum limits.

6. Follow the instructions on the Next step prompt to restart your terminal(s), then click Done.

   

Any settings changes must be applied to the relevant terminals before taking effect. Settings are updated automatically overnight or upon restarting the terminal.

Processing payments in offline mode

When a terminal loses internet connection, you will be notified by an on-screen prompt that you are unable to connect to network. You can check your internet connection and attempt to reconnect or enter offline mode to continue to processing transactions offline.

1. Tap Switch to offline mode on the Unable to connect to network prompt.

   

2. Enter the payment amount using the on-screen pin pad and tap Pay. When entering a payment amount, the terminal will display the maximum allowed amount for the payment, considering both pre-defined limits.

   

3. Allow the customer to process their card payment as normal.

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4. If the terminal approves the presented payment method, the cardholder will be able to enter an email where a payment receipt will be sent when connectivity is regained. Tap Email receipt, or if the customer does not require a receipt, tap Don’t email receipt.

   

   If a customer opts in to receive a receipt via email, the receipt will be sent once the internet connection has been restored and the payment processed by Lightspeed.

Refunds and cancellations

While in offline mode, recorded payments can't be canceled or refunded. After the terminal regains connectivity, you can refund payments from the Financial services section of Retail POS.

Taxes

Amounts entered in offline mode are the final amounts charged to the cardholder. The terminal will not add any taxes or fees to the charge.

Offline mode reporting

Offline payments are considered standalone payments, as the POS isn't involved in the transaction. These payments will not appear as sales in Retail POS.

When the terminal regains connectivity and transmits the offline payments for processing, the payments view in the Financial services section of Retail POS will be updated:

• Successful offline payments will have the channel value Offline.
• Offline payments that failed authorization will have the status Offline declined.

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

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