Tap to pay for barbers: take cards on your phone, no reader

For years, taking a card at the chair meant a reader: charge it, pair it, find it under a pile of capes. Tap to pay changes that. Your phone becomes the card reader. A client taps their card, phone or watch on the back of it, and you're paid.

How tap to pay works

Modern phones have an NFC chip, the same thing that lets you pay with your phone at a store. Tap to pay turns that around so your phone can accept payments instead of making them.

1. Finish the cut and open the ticket in your app.
2. The client picks a tip on your screen.
3. They tap a contactless card, phone or watch on the back of your phone.
4. The payment goes through and a receipt goes to their email or phone.

On iPhone it's Apple's Tap to Pay on iPhone. On Android it works on most recent phones with NFC. Both are supported in Canada through payment providers like Stripe.

What clients can pay with

• Contactless Visa, Mastercard and Amex cards
• Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Wallet
• Interac debit, where your provider supports it on tap to pay. Check before you rely on it, since debit is how many Canadians pay. More in Interac debit for barbershops.

Cards that can't tap, and payments above the contactless limit that need a PIN, need a reader that accepts chip and PIN.

Why barbers like it

• No hardware. Nothing to buy, charge or lose.
• Pay at the chair. No walk to the front desk. Booth renters can take payments on their own phone.
• Tips stay with the right barber. The payment is tied to your ticket, so your tip is yours.
• Everything in one report. Tap payments sit next to online deposits and cash in the same end-of-day numbers.

What it costs

You pay a processing fee per transaction, set by the payment provider. Rates differ for cards and debit. Some apps add their own fee on top, so ask for the full rate before you start. In Zelko, the rate is shown in the app before you take your first payment.

When you still want a terminal

Tap to pay is perfect at the chair. A countertop terminal still makes sense when:

• Clients pay at a front desk and you want a screen facing them for tips and receipts.
• You see a lot of chip-and-PIN payments, or cards that can't tap.
• You don't want barbers using personal phones for payments.

Many shops use both. See card terminals for barbershops in Canada.

Tap to pay in Zelko

Zelko Pay brings tap to pay into the same app you use for bookings, so the ticket, the tip and the commission split are all in one place. It's in early access now. Email us with your shop name to join. Online deposits and payments are available today on every plan.