Going Digital: Enabling Tip Suggestions on Screen-Based Payment Devices 📱💳
If your venue uses handheld smart terminals or customer-facing payment screens (such as the Pax A30 or A35 series), you can push your previously configured Area tip suggestions straight to the glass.
Instead of writing a tip on paper or relying on verbal communication, guests are greeted with a clean, touch-selectable tip grid directly on the terminal during the payment flow.
🛠️ Step-by-Step Device Enablement
Tip suggestions are tied to the specific type of payment being processed. To turn on digital screen prompts for credit card transactions, configure the tender type in your back office:
Navigate to Configuration > Ordering > Tenders in the NX Portal.
Select your primary credit card payment type (e.g., Credit).
Scroll down to the Tipping section.
Toggle on the Prompt Tip switch.
Click Save in the bottom right corner.
📱 The Guest Checkout Flow
Once this toggle is flipped and synced, the checkout experience on screen-based devices behaves as follows:
Card Authorization: The cashier taps the credit card tender button on the POS, which awakens the payment terminal. The guest dips, taps, or swipes their card.
The Digital Gratuity Screen: Before the payment is finalized, the terminal screen intercepts the flow and presents an interactive tipping screen using your configured percentages (e.g., 18%, 20%, or 22%).
No Math Required: The terminal handles the math on the spot, dynamically showing the exact dollar amounts alongside the percentage buttons. Guests can select a button, enter a custom tip amount, or select "No Tip."
Final Sync: Once confirmed by the guest, the terminal processes the card for the full blended total and syncs the finalized check back to the main POS network.
📋 Auto-Gratuity Safeguards on Smart Devices
Because the terminal dynamically reads the active check data in real time, it safely respects your advanced threshold settings:
Flipping to Supplemental Tipping: If an order has met your large party threshold and an auto-gratuity is already present on the check, the device will not display your standard 18%, 20%, or 22% buttons.
The Result: The screen will dynamically swap to display your smaller, supplemental Automatic Gratuity Tip Suggestions (e.g., 3%, 5%, or 7%) labeled as "Suggested Additional Tip". This effectively prevents guest confusion and accidental over-tipping.
Need Help? 💡
The card processes instantly on the terminal without prompting the guest for a tip.
Double-check that Prompt Tip is toggled on for that exact card type. If you have separate tender options for Visa, Mastercard, and Amex instead of a generic Credit button, the toggle must be switched on individually for every single one of those tender records.
The suggestions appear on my station's stationary guest monitor but not on my handheld terminals.
Ensure your handheld devices are properly mapped to the correct service Area. Because tip percentages are pulled directly from the Area settings, a terminal registered to a generic "Office" area may skip the prompt compared to one assigned to "Dine In."
Still fine-tuning your terminal checkout behaviors?
Reach out to your regional NX Partner