Retail Payments, Done Modern
Fashion floors, electronics counters, supermarkets, specialty stores — retail runs on payment infrastructure that needs to scale across channels, formats, and store counts. Surfboard ships the unified, multi-channel, hardware-flexible stack retailers need to operate today, and the API surface to extend it tomorrow.
Built for the Way Retail Actually Operates
Retail isn't one channel anymore. It's in-store, online, click-and-collect, mobile checkout, self-checkout, kiosk, returns processing, and loyalty recognition — usually happening simultaneously across the same store with the same customers. Surfboard ships unified payment infrastructure that treats those as facets of one system, not separate vendors stitched together.
Tokenization unifies the customer across channels. Identification turns any card tap into a loyalty signal. Gift Cards cover monetary balances and entitlement-based offers. Multi-store branding cascades from chain to terminal. Hardware fleet logistics run programmatically. Reporting consolidates into one settlement that plugs into your ERP.
One platform, every retail format
Surfboard hardware fits every retail format we've seen — high-volume countertop, mobile sales floor, self-checkout lane, queue-busting line buster, customer-facing display kiosk, omni-channel pickup counter. The payment application stays the same; the form factor adapts.
Retail patterns Surfboard handles natively
Six patterns retailers run on Surfboard daily. None require custom integration.
1. Multi-Channel Retail
Customers buy online and pick up in store. Customers tap at the till and finish payment on their phone. Customers reserve online and pay on arrival. Surfboard's Unified Commerce handles all of it through one API — and reports it on one settlement.
- One customer profile across in-store and online
- Unified tokenization for cross-channel recognition
- One settlement, one ledger, one reconciliation
2. Gift Cards & Store Credit
Issue gift cards as monetary balances or as entitlements (e.g., "5 free returns", "VIP access pass"). Refunds-as-store-credit. Holiday campaigns at scale. All through the Gift Cards API — QR, barcode, NFC, and shareable link in every response.
3. Returns and Refunds Without Friction
A customer buys with a card and returns the item. Surfboard recognizes the same card via Identification, looks up the original transaction, and issues the refund — same card, no receipt required. Or convert the refund into store credit via a gift card. Or both.
4. Loyalty Without an App
Customer taps their card. Surfboard returns a persistent token. Your loyalty system recognizes them, applies discounts, marks the visit, accumulates points — without the customer ever installing an app. The card is the loyalty card.
Pair with the Wallet integration for one-tap loyalty enrollment via Apple/Google Wallet.
5. Hardware for Every Retail Format
Boutique counter, busy supermarket, fashion-floor mobile point-of-sale, self-checkout, kiosk — Surfboard ships terminals for every format. SurfTouch Retail for fixed countertop. SurfPrint for handheld with built-in receipt printer. SurfXpress for self-checkout. CheckoutX for SoftPOS on staff phones. All run the same payment application.
6. Multi-Store Configuration at Scale
Chain of 200 stores? Branding cascades from chain → store → terminal. Tipping policy by region. Payment methods activated per store (Swish in Sweden, Klarna where licensed). Fleet logistics handled programmatically — replacements, returns, new-store openings, all through the Logistics API.
The retail capability stack
Hardware for every retail format
SurfTouch Retail for fixed countertop. SurfPrint Pro K for handheld with receipt printer. SurfPad Pro for customer-facing keypad. SurfXpress for self-checkout. CheckoutX SoftPOS for line-busting on staff phones. Tap to Pay on iPhone for pop-up and event sales. All running the same Surfboard payment application — one certification, one mental model, every form factor.
Build modern retail payments
One API across every channel. Identification on every tap. Gift cards in any format. Multi-store branding cascade. Programmatic terminal procurement.
// Issue store credit as a gift card after a return
POST /giftcards
{
"cardType": "FUND",
"amount": 49900,
"currency": "SEK",
"name": "Store Credit",
"accessControl": "OPEN",
"expiryDate": "12/31/2026"
}
// Trigger identification at checkout to recognize loyalty members
POST /terminals/:terminalId/identify
{
"prompt": "Tap to identify",
"timeout": 30
}