Payment Provider Setup
Overview
The Payments settings section is where you configure every method your restaurant accepts at the point of sale and online. This includes your card processor credentials, cash handling, gift cards, loyalty cards, house charge accounts, and any custom payment buttons you want to appear on POS screens.
Getting this right once means staff see the correct payment buttons every shift — no missing payment types, no declined transactions caused by misconfigured credentials, and no surprises on your settlement reports.
Prerequisites
- You must have Restaurant Owner access, or a staff role with permission to view or edit restaurant settings.
- For credit card processing, your payment processor (CardConnect or NMI) must have already provided your merchant credentials — have these ready before you begin.
- Your account team must have activated the card processor on your Katalyst account before the card payment option is available to configure.
Navigating to Payment Settings
- Log in to the Katalyst Restaurant Management dashboard.
- Click Settings in the left sidebar.
- Select Payments from the settings menu.
The Payments page is organized into three sections:
| Section | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Payment Processing Overview | All active payment methods and their credentials |
| Card Payments | Credit card authorization rate and cash discounts message |
| Katalyst Subscription | Your Katalyst billing information |
Adding a Payment Method
- In the Payment Processing Overview section, click the Add payment method button.
- A dropdown menu appears with all available payment types. Select the one you want to add:
| Payment Type | When to use |
|---|---|
| Cash Payments | Accept cash at the POS |
| Credit Card Processing — Card Connect | CardConnect (CardPointe/Bolt) card processing |
| Credit Card Processing — Nmi | NMI card processing |
| Gift Cards | Accept Katalyst-issued gift cards |
| Manual Payment Method | Custom tender button (e.g., "Comp", "Employee Meal", "Check") |
| Loyalty Cards | Accept loyalty card redemptions |
| House Charge | Allow guests to charge to an in-house account |
- The new payment method appears in the list with its configuration fields. Fill in the required fields (described in detail below).
- Changes save automatically as you type — there is no separate Save button.
Payment Method Settings
Cash Payments
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| General Ledger Number | Links this payment type to your accounting chart of accounts |
| Enable Fast Cash Payment | When checked, cash payments close the check immediately without prompting for a cash amount or change calculation |
| Revenue Centers | Limit this payment type to specific areas of your restaurant; leave empty to make it available everywhere |
Credit Card Processing — Card Connect
CardConnect uses two separate credential sets: CardPointe (for reporting and tokenization) and Bolt (for the physical card reader). You need both.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| General Ledger Number | Links card payments to your accounting chart of accounts |
| Merchant | Your CardConnect Merchant ID number |
| Bolt Api Key | API key for the Bolt terminal gateway (provided by CardConnect) |
| Bolt Endpoint | Bolt API URL endpoint (provided by CardConnect) |
| Cardpointe User | Your CardPointe portal username |
| Cardpointe Password | Your CardPointe portal password |
| Cardpointe Endpoint | CardPointe API URL (provided by CardConnect) |
| Allow card swiping | Enables magnetic stripe swipe on supported readers |
| Allow ACH processing | Enables bank account (ACH) payments |
| Allow Apple Pay processing | Enables Apple Pay on supported checkout flows |
| Allow Google Pay processing | Enables Google Pay on supported checkout flows |
| Revenue Centers | Limit this card processor to specific revenue centers; leave empty for all |
Tip: Password fields display masked after you tab away. Click into any password field and clear it before typing a new value.
Credit Card Processing — NMI
NMI provides several separate keys for POS terminal, online, and payment-notification use. Enter each exactly as provided by NMI.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| General Ledger Number | Links card payments to your accounting chart of accounts |
| Secret Key | Primary NMI secret key (provided by NMI) |
| Merchant Id | Your NMI Merchant ID |
| Webhook Signing Key | Signing key for NMI payment notifications (provided by NMI) |
| Pos Secret Key | Key used specifically by POS terminal transactions |
| Public Secret Key | Key used for online payment forms (provided by NMI) |
| Allow ACH processing | Enables bank account (ACH) payments |
| Is Test | Puts this payment method into test/sandbox mode — disable for live production use |
| Allow Apple Pay processing | Enables Apple Pay on supported checkout flows |
| Revenue Centers | Limit this card processor to specific revenue centers; leave empty for all |
Gift Cards
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| General Ledger Number | Links gift card redemptions to your accounting chart of accounts |
| Allow card swiping | Allows gift cards to be swiped on a card reader (requires CardConnect swipe support) |
| Is By Number Available | Allows staff to enter a gift card number manually instead of swiping |
| Revenue Centers | Limit gift card acceptance to specific areas; leave empty for all |
Manual Payment Method
Manual methods let you create any custom tender button that appears on the POS payment screen. Common examples: Comp, Employee Meal, House Account, Check, or Voucher. You can add multiple manual methods.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| General Ledger Number | Links this custom payment to your chart of accounts |
| Payment Name | Internal name used in reports |
| Button Name | The text that appears on the POS payment button — keep it short |
| Custom Field Name | Optional label for a reference field staff can fill in at payment time (e.g., "Table Number") |
| Trigger | Choose Keyboard (full keyboard for text entry) or Number Pad (numeric keypad only) |
| Open Drawer On Close | Automatically opens the cash drawer when this payment type is used |
| Print receipt on successful payment | Automatically prints a receipt when this payment completes |
| Revenue Centers | Limit this button to specific areas; leave empty for all |
Loyalty Cards
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| General Ledger Number | Links loyalty redemptions to your accounting chart of accounts |
| Allow card swiping | Allows loyalty cards to be swiped on a card reader |
| Is By Number Available | Allows staff to enter a loyalty card number manually |
| Revenue Centers | Limit loyalty card acceptance to specific areas; leave empty for all |
House Charge
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| General Ledger Number | Links house charge transactions to your accounting chart of accounts |
| Revenue Centers | Limit house charge availability to specific areas; leave empty for all |
Removing a Payment Method
- In the Payment Processing Overview section, find the payment method you want to remove.
- Click the delete icon (trash icon) next to the method name.
- A confirmation prompt appears: Are you sure you want to remove this payment method? The payment method will be removed!
- Confirm to remove it.
Warning: Removing a payment method removes it from the POS immediately. Any checks that were already paid using that method are not affected, but staff will no longer see the button for new transactions.
Card Payments Section
This section contains two settings that apply globally to all card transactions at your location.
Credit Card Authorization Rate
This is a percentage added on top of the charged amount at the moment of card authorization. It creates a buffer so that if a guest adds a tip after swiping, the final captured amount stays within the authorized limit.
- Enter the percentage in the Credit Card Authorization Rate field (e.g.,
20.00for 20%). - If your workflow does not require tip adjustment after authorization, this can be set to
0.00.
Cash Discounts Disclaimer Message
If your restaurant offers a cash discount program (lower prices for cash payments), enter the message you want displayed to guests in this field. This text appears on the online ordering payment page and in relevant POS prompts.
Service Fee
If a service fee percentage is configured on your account, a notice appears at the top of the Payments page:
Service fee X% applies for Credit/Debit Cards. And no fees (name) for Cash, Gift Cards and ACH.
Service fee percentages are set by Katalyst. Contact your account representative to enable, adjust, or remove a service fee. Setting the fee to 0% removes it from the online ordering payment page and removes the service fee modal from the POS payment flow.
Troubleshooting
A payment button is not appearing on the POS
- Confirm the payment method is listed under Payment Processing Overview and has not been removed.
- Check the Revenue Centers field on that payment method — if it is set to specific revenue centers, staff in other areas will not see the button.
- Staff may need to log out and back in to the POS app after changes are saved.
Card payments are being declined immediately after setup
- Double-check that all credential fields (Merchant ID, API keys, endpoints) are entered exactly as provided by your processor — no extra spaces.
- For CardConnect, verify the Bolt Endpoint and Cardpointe Endpoint URLs are correct for your region.
- For NMI, confirm Is Test is unchecked for live production use.
- Contact your payment processor to confirm the merchant account is active and in good standing.
The service fee is not showing up / appearing unexpectedly
- Service fees are set by Katalyst. Contact your Katalyst account team.
- If the rate shows correctly on the Payments page but is not appearing on the POS, staff should log out and back in.