Terminal Checkout Stuck When Customer Skips Tip Selection

Questions
1

Dear Square Support Team,

I am currently integrating Square Terminal API for our POS system and have encountered a serious issue where payments can get stuck if a customer swipes/taps their card and then leaves without selecting a tip. This has caused transactions to remain in an incomplete state, preventing us from properly finalizing the payment.

Issue Description:

  1. Customer swiped their card and left before selecting a tip.

  2. Our POS system was waiting for the PAYMENT_UPDATED Webhook, but since the tip was never selected, the Webhook never triggered.

  3. If we notice the issue immediately, our staff can manually select “No Tip” on the Terminal to complete the transaction.

  4. However, if the issue is not caught right away, the tip selection screen disappears after a few minutes, and there is no way to recover the payment or complete the transaction.

  5. As a result, the payment remains in an incomplete state, and we are unable to charge the customer.

Questions:

  1. Does Square automatically cancel or timeout the payment if the tip is never selected?

  2. Why does the tip selection screen disappear from the Terminal after a few minutes instead of staying active until manually resolved?

  3. Is there any way for the business to manually select “No Tip” after the screen disappears, so the payment can still be processed?

  4. What is the recommended way to handle this situation to avoid losing transactions in the future?

  5. Can we ensure that the tip selection happens before the customer swipes/taps their card, so this issue does not occur?

We need a solution to prevent transactions from being left in an incomplete state due to skipped tip selection. Any guidance on how to resolve or mitigate this would be greatly appreciated.

2

:wave: I’m Square Dev AI, here to help answer your question!
Based on the information you’ve provided, the following documentation will help answer your question:

Additional Documentation

Delayed Capture of a Card Payment
Square Developer Documentation
Take a Credit Card Payment

If this documentation helped you find a solution, please check the box indicating that this reply solves the problem.
Otherwise one of our Developer Advocates will provide additional assistance shortly.

3

Square does not automatically cancel or timeout the payment if the tip is never selected. The payment will complete when the tip screen is dismissed so the seller doesn’t loose the sale.

The tip selection screen disappearing from the Terminal after a few minutes is a feature designed to prevent accidental charges or actions on the Terminal when it’s left unattended. :slight_smile:

4

is there a way that tip selection Screen shows before the customer swipes/taps their card, so this issue does not occur?

5

At this time the ability to have the tip screen show before the customer pays isn’t currently available. We’re constantly working to improve our features based on feedback like this, so I’ll be sure to share your request to the API product team. :slight_smile: