Card Machine Stopped Working? How to Keep Taking Payments
Here's what most merchants don't know until it's too late: you don't have to be stuck. If you're on Lopay, your phone is already a fully functional contactless payment terminal. Switching over takes about two minutes. No call to support. No waiting for a courier to deliver a replacement reader.
This article shows you exactly what to do when your card reader fails and how to make sure it never catches you off guard again.
Why Card Readers Fail (More Often Than You'd Expect)
Card readers aren't infallible. Batteries die mid-session. Software locks up during a firmware update. A physical knock damages a port. A connectivity issue takes a terminal offline at the worst possible moment.
If your card rmachine is your only way to take payments, any of those things means you're cash-only until it's resolved. And that's a problem, because most of your customers don't carry cash anymore.
The solution is simpler than most people realise, and if you're already on Lopay, it costs you nothing.
What Is Tap to Pay and Why It's the Perfect Backup
Tap to Pay turns your smartphone into a contactless payment terminal. No extra hardware. No card reader. Customers tap their debit or credit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay against the back of your phone, and the payment goes through like any other contactless transaction.
Same contactless payment security. Just no reader involved.
We've built Tap to Pay into every Lopay account, it's not a premium tier or a paid upgrade. It's already sitting in your app, ready to activate. Most merchants only discover it when their reader breaks. We'd rather you set it up today, so it's there when you need it.
How to Set Up Mobile Payments on Your Phone Right Now
Have you ever watched a customer put their card back in their wallet and walk out, not because they didn't want to pay, but because you couldn't take their payment? That's the moment this two-minute setup prevents.
On iPhone:
- Open the Lopay app
- Tap 'My Devices' on your app Home screen and then select 'Tap to Pay on iPhone'
- Follow the on-screen prompts to activate
- Done your iPhone is now a contactless payment terminal
- For further instructions see our guide here
On Android:
- Confirm NFC is turned on in your phone settings
- Open the Lopay app
- Select the 'My Devices' tile on your app home screen
- Select 'Tap to Pay on Android' then 'Connect.'
- Tick the box to confirm that you have read and accepted the terms and conditions associated with Tap to Pay. Then select ‘Get started’
- For more information check our guide here
From that point on, opening the app and hitting Charge puts your phone into payment-ready mode. The whole thing takes about two minutes from standing still.
What Payments Does Tap to Pay Accept?
Tap to Pay on your phone accepts all major contactless payment methods:
- Contactless debit and credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex)
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- Samsung Pay
That covers virtually every card your customer is likely to be carrying. The standard £100 contactless payment limit applies per tap, in line with UK card payment regulations.
For transactions above that limit, Tap to Pay on supported devices steps the customer through PIN entry, so you're not restricted to low-value payments.
The Two-Device Setup: How Smart Merchants Stay Trading
Having a backup is one thing. Having it ready without thinking is another.
The setup we recommend is simple: your main card reader handles the day-to-day, and your phone has Tap to Pay already activated. It sits in your pocket. If your reader fails, crashes, or goes offline, you pick up your phone and carry on. No explanation to the customer, no "sorry, bear with me", you just hand them your phone and take the payment.
For businesses with multiple staff: a salon with three stylists, a market stall with two people on the counter, a restaurant floor, this scales naturally. Any team member with the Lopay app installed can take payments from their own phone, independently. No sharing hardware mid-rush. No bottleneck at a single terminal.
This is what the ideal payment setup looks like in practice: a primary device that does the job well, and a backup that's already live before you need it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do immediately if my chip and pin reader stops working?Open the Lopay app on your phone and activate Tap to Pay, it's already in your account and takes about two minutes to switch on. Your phone becomes a contactless payment terminal instantly. Don't wait for your reader to break to do this. Set it up now, and the next failure won't cost you a single sale.
Is Tap to Pay as Secure as a Dedicated Card Reader? Yes. Tap to Pay uses the same NFC technology as any contactless terminal. Transactions are encrypted end-to-end, PCI DSS compliant, and processed through Lopay's FCA-regulated platform. Card data is never stored on your phone. The device's secure element handles the transaction in exactly the same way as a dedicated terminal would. From the customer's side, it's identical to tapping on any other machine, and from yours, the payment lands in your Lopay account like any other transaction.
Can I take contactless payments on my phone without any card reader hardware? Yes, with Lopay's Tap to Pay, your iPhone or compatible Android phone accepts contactless debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay directly.
Don't Wait for Your Card Reader to Break
Your chip and pin reader will have a bad day eventually. Most merchants find that out mid-service, when the queue is long and the workaround is nowhere near ready.
With Lopay, the backup is already in your pocket, you just need to switch it on.
Set up Tap to Pay on your phone today at lopay.com. Two minutes now saves you a very stressful conversation with a queue of customers later.
