Available for Lightspeed Payments merchants using the Smart Terminal (WisePOS E).

With standalone mode, you can process payments on your terminal without creating a sale in Retail POS. This allows you more flexibility in the daily operation of your business. You can choose from two unique modes, standalone mode and offline mode, to process payments on the Smart Terminal (WisePOS E).

Understanding standalone mode and offline mode

Payments received in standalone mode and offline mode aren’t synced to the sales history and don’t affect your inventory records. They’re reported exclusively in your Lightspeed Payments reports. This allows you to account for standalone sales in a way that best suits your business needs.

Standalone mode

Basic standalone mode requires a stable internet connection to function. Payments are processed and captured immediately through your payment terminal.

Offline mode

Offline mode allows you to process standalone payments if your internet connection becomes temporarily unavailable. You can continue to process payments in offline mode (when enabled) until the connection is restored. Once your internet connection has been restored, all stored payments will be transferred to Lightspeed for processing, and your Lightspeed Payments reports will be updated accordingly.

Offline payments are not processed or authorized until connection to the internet has been re-established. You must connect your terminal to the internet in order to complete transactions processed in offline mode.

If a payment fails authorization, it will show an Offline declined status in your reports. Each payment with the Offline declined status represents a loss. Lightspeed cannot contact customers on your behalf or provide you with contact information should an offline payment fail or be declined.

Enabling standalone and offline mode

To process payments in standalone or offline mode, you must enable both modes from Retail POS.

While offline mode doesn’t require an internet connection to function, it must be enabled while an internet connection is present in order to sync your settings.

1. In Retail POS, navigate to Financial services > Terminals tab.

2. Click the serial number of the terminal you want to enable standalone or offline mode for. To enable standalone or offline mode for all terminals, click Settings.

   

3. Toggle on Allow standalone mode to enable standalone mode.

4. (Optional) Toggle on Allow offline payments to enable offline mode.

   By enabling offline mode, you accept responsibility for any expired or declined transactions processed while offline, including any resulting chargebacks, in accordance with your platform payment agreement.

   

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

   

6. Review the Per transaction limit and Total transaction limit, then click Save.

   

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

7. On your Smart Terminal, tap the menu on the left side of the screen and select Manual payments > OK.

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

   

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

Processing payments in standalone and offline mode

Transactions completed in standalone and offline mode are processed directly through your Smart Terminal. Payments taken in standalone or offline mode aren’t linked to a sales record, and they’ll only appear in your Lightspeed Payments reports.

• Processing payments in standalone mode

  Once you’ve set up your payment terminal for standalone payments, you can initiate a payment by entering the value of the transaction on the terminal.

  1. On your Smart Terminal, tap the menu on the left side of the screen and select Standalone.

  2. Enter the payment amount using the on-screen PIN pad, then tap Pay.

     

  3. Direct your customer to present their card.

  4. Once the payment has been processed successfully, the customer will be able to enter their email address and tap Email receipt to receive a payment receipt. If no receipt is required, tap Don’t email receipt to complete the sale.

     

  Once the transaction has been completed, you can view it in the Payments tab of your Lightspeed Payments reports.

• Processing payments in offline mode

  When a terminal loses its internet connection, an on-screen prompt will notify you that you’re unable to connect to the network. You can either attempt to reconnect or enter offline mode to continue processing transactions offline.

  A receipt will be emailed to the customer once the internet connection has been restored and the payment has been processed by Lightspeed.

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

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

     

  2. Enter the payment amount using the on-screen PIN pad, then tap Pay. While you’re entering a payment amount, the terminal will display the maximum allowed amount for the payment, considering both pre-defined limits.

     

  3. Have the customer process their card payment as normal.

  4. Once the terminal approves the presented payment method, the customer will be able to enter their email address and tap Email receipt to receive a payment receipt once connectivity is re-established. If the customer doesn’t need a receipt, tap Don’t email receipt.

     

Reporting sales in standalone and offline mode

Payments received in standalone and offline mode don’t generate a receipt ID, and they appear exclusively in your Lightspeed Payments reports. This allows you to choose how you’d like to account for standalone sales in a way that best suits your business needs.

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

1. Navigate to Financial services > Payments tab.

2. Click Filters.

   

3. Select Channel > Standalone or Offline, then click Apply.
4. (Optional) Use the search bar to enter relevant keywords or filter the results by Date, Status, or Payout status using the Filters dropdown.

Generating standalone sales for your sales reports

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

If you void or refund the generated sale from your sales report, the funds won’t be returned to your customer’s card. To refund a card, the refund must be processed through the Financial services page.

Processing refunds for standalone and offline transactions

Sales can be fully or partially refunded from the Payments tab of your Lightspeed Payments reports.

1. Navigate to Financial services > Lightspeed Payments > Payments tab.
2. Find the payment you want to refund.
3. Click on the payment to open its 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.

Turning off standalone and offline mode

To turn off standalone mode and return to integrated mode:

1. Navigate to Financial services > Lightspeed Payments > Terminals tab.
2. Click the serial number of the terminal you want to deactivate standalone or offline mode for. To deactivate standalone or offline mode for all terminals, click Settings.
3. Toggle Allow standalone mode to deactivate standalone and offline mode.
4. (Optional) Toggle Allow offline payments to deactivate offline mode only.
5. Click Save.
6. On your Smart Terminal, tap the menu on the left side of the screen and select Integrated mode.
7. Follow the instructions in the Next step prompt to restart your terminal(s), then click Done.

What’s next?