Terminal Management

Overview

The Terminals page provides a centralized lookup tool for finding and managing payment terminals across your entire merchant portfolio. Whether you need to check a terminal’s status, view its transactions, or push a configuration update, this is where you start.

Device Lifecycle States

Every terminal on the Surfboard platform moves through a defined set of lifecycle states. Understanding these states is essential for troubleshooting and merchant support. Click the Devices tab in the left sidebar to access your terminals.

State	Meaning	Who acts next
Your Stock	The device is in your own inventory, ready to be assigned to a merchant.	Partner — activate the terminal to a merchant.
Activated	The terminal has been activated and linked to a specific merchant.	Merchant or Partner — register the device.
Registered	The device is fully registered, live, and operational on the merchant’s account.	Merchant — begin taking payments.

A terminal must be activated to a merchant before it can be registered, and it must be registered before it can take payments.

Activating a Terminal

Activating links a terminal from your stock to a specific merchant, moving it to the Activated state. There are two ways to do it.

Method A — From the merchant

1. Click Merchants in the left sidebar and select the merchant you want to activate the terminal for.
2. Click the Terminals button at the top, then click Activate.
3. In the pop-up, enter the terminal serial number (found on the sticker on the back of the device) and click Activate.
4. To activate multiple terminals at once, click the + button in the pop-up before confirming.

The terminal is now linked to the merchant and moves to the Activated state.

Method B — From your stock

1. Click Devices in the left sidebar, then open Your Stock.
2. Click Ship on the terminal you want to send to a merchant.
3. Search for the merchant’s name and click Ship Device — the terminal is activated.
4. To activate multiple terminals at once, click the + button in the pop-up before confirming.

Registering a Terminal

Registering moves an activated terminal to the Registered state, making it live and ready to take payments. Either the partner or the merchant can register the device.

1. Click the Activated tab (next to Your Stock) to see the list of activated devices.
2. Click the three dots next to the terminal and select Register.

When you ship directly to a merchant, you can register the terminal on their behalf, or leave registration for the merchant to complete.

Reassigning a terminal to another merchant

To move a device to a different merchant:

• Click the three dots under the Activated tab and select Reassign Merchant, or
• Open the Registered tab and select Reassign Merchant.

Terminal Lookup

Enter a terminal ID in the search bar and click Search to look up any terminal in your portfolio. The lookup returns:

• Terminal ID and serial number
• Assigned merchant and store
• Terminal status (Active, Inactive, etc.)
• Current software version
• Last activity timestamp

Managing Terminals Per Merchant

For more detailed terminal management, navigate to a specific merchant’s Terminals tab. There you can:

View Terminals

See all terminals assigned to a merchant, including:

• Terminal ID and serial number
• Store assignment
• Terminal type (physical device, SoftPOS, online terminal, printer)
• Current status
• Software version

Register a New Device

To register a physical payment terminal:

1. Go to the merchant’s Terminals tab
2. Click Register Device
3. Select the target store
4. Enter the device serial number
5. The terminal will be linked to the merchant and store

Register an Online Terminal

For e-commerce or virtual terminals:

1. Click Register Online Terminal
2. Select the target store
3. Configure the terminal settings
4. The online terminal will be created and ready for use

Move Terminals Between Stores

If a merchant needs to reassign a terminal to a different store:

1. Select the terminal
2. Choose Change Store
3. Select the new store from the dropdown
4. Confirm the move

Move Terminals Between Merchants

Partners can move terminals between merchants within their portfolio:

1. Select the terminal
2. Choose Move Terminal
3. Enter the target merchant ID
4. Confirm the transfer

Delink a Terminal

To remove a terminal from a merchant:

1. Select the terminal
2. Choose Delink Terminal
3. Confirm the deactivation

The terminal will be unlinked from the store and merchant.

Terminal Configuration

Terminals can be configured at three levels, with inheritance from broader to more specific:

Merchant Level

Set default configuration for all terminals under a merchant. Settings cascade down to all stores and terminals unless overridden.

Store Level

Override merchant-level configuration for a specific store. All terminals in the store inherit these settings unless individually overridden.

Terminal Level

Set configuration for a specific terminal. These settings take the highest priority.

Configuration Options

Terminal configurations can include:

• Receipt settings
• Tip configuration
• Display preferences
• Payment method enablement
• Custom branding elements
• Open POS on Reboot — when enabled (the default), the POS app launches automatically every time the terminal restarts

Tips Configuration

Tipping can be configured at multiple levels, with more specific levels overriding broader ones:

• Merchant level — in the merchant’s Configuration tab, select Tips to apply tip settings across all of that merchant’s terminals.
• Store level — open a store from the Stores tab and use its Configuration button to set tips for that store.
• Terminal level — configure tips individually per terminal via the terminal’s own Configuration tab.

All levels offer the same settings:

Setting	Description
Enable Tips	Toggle tip functionality on or off.
Display Format	Show tip options as a Percentage or a fixed Amount.
Preset Tip Levels	Set up to three preset tip options (e.g. 10%, 20%, 25%) that customers can select at checkout.
Allow Custom Amount	Let customers enter their own tip value. A Default Custom Amount can also be pre-set.
Show Calculated Amount	Optionally display the calculated tip value beneath each preset option.

Once configured, tap Save Tip Config to apply the changes.

Pushing Updates

Push Latest Configuration

Send the most recent configuration to a terminal. Useful after making changes to ensure the terminal picks up the new settings immediately.

Push Latest Software

Trigger a software update on a specific terminal. The terminal will download and install the latest version on its next check-in.

Terminal Naming

You can update a terminal’s display name to make it easier to identify in reports and lists. Click on the terminal and edit its name.