Register a card reader
Every physical Stripe reader — a Bluetooth Stripe Reader M2, a networked BBPOS WisePOS E, or a Stripe smart reader (S700 / S710) — has to be registered to your winery's Stripe account and assigned to a Stripe Terminal Location before it can take a payment. It's a one-time step per reader, done on the web by an admin.
Registration is not the same thing as pairing the Companion app to your company, and it comes first. On a smart reader it matters twice over: registration is what gives the reader its own location, so the reader can work without the app having to supply one, and it's what puts the reader on the list Avero deploys the Companion to.
The two codes — don't mix them up
Setting up a smart reader involves two different codes. They're easy to confuse, because Avero's own Card Readers screen calls the Stripe one a "pairing code" too. The shape of the code tells you which one you're holding:
| What | Stripe registration code | Avero pairing code |
|---|---|---|
| Looks like | Three words — puppies-plug-could | Eight digits — 48210377 |
| You read it from | The reader's own screen | The Avero web admin, or an already-paired device |
| You enter it in | Card Readers in the Avero web admin, or the Stripe Dashboard | The device's Pair Device screen |
| It connects | The physical reader to your Stripe account and a Stripe Terminal Location | The Companion app on a device to your Avero company |
| How often | Once per physical reader | Once per device |
| Lifetime | Used once, at registration | Single-use, expires after about 10 minutes |
If the code has words in it, it's the Stripe one and it belongs on the web. If it's eight digits, it's the Avero one and it belongs on the device's Pair Device screen — see Get the app. Entering one where the other belongs always fails.
Before you start
- Stripe connected for your company — see Integrations.
- The physical reader unboxed, powered on, and on the venue's network or Wi-Fi.
- An admin who can reach Settings → Companion Devices in the Avero web admin.
Register the reader in Avero
Settings → Companion Devices → Card Readers (/admin/companion-devices/card-readers) walks through it in two steps:
- Step 1 — the Stripe Terminal Location. Create a Location, or choose one you already have. A Stripe Terminal Location is Stripe's own record of the physical site a reader sits at; it's separate from your Avero locations, so normally you create one per venue and keep the names matching.
- Step 2 — Register Reader. On the reader's screen, read the three-word code (for example
puppies-plug-could). Back in Avero, click Register Reader and enter it. The reader's serial number or order number works here too, if the code isn't on screen.
The reader then belongs to the Location you picked in Step 1, and shows up in the reader list on the payment screen at that venue.
Registering a reader is not the same as pairing a device. If the reader is an S700/S710 that will also run the Companion, it still needs the 8-digit Avero pairing code afterwards — see Get the app.
Or register in the Stripe Dashboard
The same job can be done from Stripe directly: Terminal → Readers → Register Reader, entering the three-word code (or serial / order number) and choosing the Location. A reader registered that way shows up in Avero's Card Readers list as well — you don't need to do both.
Use the Dashboard when you're already there setting up Terminal, and Avero's Card Readers screen when you'd rather stay in one place.
What registration does for a smart reader
On an S700 or S710 the Companion runs on the reader itself, and the card reader it takes payment on is the one built into the same unit. Because that reader is registered to a Stripe Terminal Location, it already knows where it is — the app connects to it without being told a location. That's why registration comes first: an unregistered smart reader has no Location, and the payment screen has no reader to offer.
Registration is also how a reader gets the app. Avero deploys the Companion to the readers registered to your Stripe account from the Stripe Dashboard; a reader that was never registered isn't on that list.
Troubleshooting
| You see | It means / do this |
|---|---|
| "Card reader payments are not available" on the Card Reader tile | No reader is registered and assigned to a Stripe Terminal Location for this venue yet. Register one above. |
| The reader isn't in the list when you take a payment | Only active, online readers at your location show. Check the reader is powered on, on the network, and registered to the Location for this venue. |
| "Invalid or expired pairing code" on the device | That's the 8-digit Avero code, not this three-word one. Generate a fresh Avero code — see Get the app. |
| The three-word code isn't on the reader's screen | Register with the reader's serial number or order number instead. |
Related
- Get the app — installing the Companion and pairing a device to your company.
- Settle a check & take payment — taking a card payment on a registered reader.
- Payments — the Companion's terminal flow on the floor.
- Integrations — connecting Stripe to your company.