Terminal & Device Management

Overview

Once merchants are onboarded and stores are created, the next step is registering and managing terminals. Surfboard supports both physical in-store devices and online payment terminals. This guide covers registration, configuration, and ongoing operations like moving or rebooting terminals.

Terminal Types

Type	Category	Description
EMV	In-Store	Traditional card-present terminals (countertop, mobile POS, kiosk)
SoftPOS	In-Store	Tap-to-pay on Android smartphones or tablets
PaymentPage	Online	Surfboard-hosted checkout page with a payment link
SelfHostedPage	Online	Surfboard renders card fields on your own web page via the Online SDK
iFrame	Online	Embedded payment frame within your site
MerchantInitiated	Online	Server-to-server payments using stored card tokens (subscriptions, recurring)

Registering In-Store Terminals

Register physical terminals by providing the device’s registration code and the store it belongs to.

POST /merchants/{merchantId}/stores/{storeId}/devices

{
  "registrationIdentifier": "250901",
  "terminalName": "Checkout 1"
}

The registrationIdentifier is a 6-digit code displayed when you power on the terminal. For SurfPad and Printer devices, use the serial number printed on the back instead.

Response:

{
  "status": "SUCCESS",
  "data": {
    "terminalId": "trm_abc123",
    "registrationStatus": "REGISTERED"
  },
  "message": "Terminal registered successfully"
}

The registrationStatus will be either REGISTERED (new device) or ALREADY_REGISTERED (device was previously linked).

Registering Online Terminals

Two online terminals arrive with the store. Creating an online store provisions a PaymentPage terminal, for payment links and hosted checkout, and a MerchantInitiated terminal, for backend charges against a stored token. Neither takes a registration call — fetch the store’s terminals to get their IDs:

GET /merchants/{merchantId}/stores/{storeId}/terminals

The remaining modes, SelfHostedPage and iFrame, are registered per store with the mode named in the body:

POST /merchants/{merchantId}/stores/{storeId}/online-terminals

{
  "onlineTerminalMode": "SelfHostedPage"
}

Note: The default terminals exist from the moment the online store does, but no online terminal can take a payment until the store’s domains are verified and the store is approved.

Response:

{
  "status": "SUCCESS",
  "data": {
    "terminalId": "trm_xyz789",
    "publicKey": "pk_live_...",
    "registrationStatus": "REGISTERED"
  },
  "message": "Terminal registered successfully"
}

For SelfHostedPage terminals, the response includes a publicKey used to initialize the Online SDK on your checkout page.

Terminal Configuration

Terminal settings follow a hierarchy: merchant-level defaults cascade down to store-level, which cascade down to terminal-level. Terminal-level settings always take precedence.

Setting Terminal Config

PATCH /merchants/{merchantId}/stores/{storeId}/terminals/{terminalId}

{
  "wifiSsid": "StoreNetwork",
  "wifiPassword": "securepass",
  "preferredNetwork": "WIFI",
  "preferredRestartTime": "03:00",
  "language": "en",
  "showReceipt": true,
  "alwaysShowMinorUnits": 1
}

Key configuration options:

Parameter	Description
preferredRestartTime	Scheduled restart in HH:MM format (default 02:00). Terminals restart within a 1-hour window.
preferredNetwork	WIFI or GSM
language	ISO language code: en, fi, da, se
autoSleep	Sleep timeout in seconds (battery-powered devices only)
showStatusBar	Show/hide the status bar (SurfPad only)
openPosOnReboot	enabled or disabled — auto-launch POS after restart
enableRefundLock	Require PIN for refunds (Android terminals only)

Fetching Terminal Config

GET /merchants/{merchantId}/stores/{storeId}/terminals/{terminalId}/config

Returns all active configuration values for the terminal, including inherited settings from merchant and store levels.

Device Operations

Change Store

Move a terminal between stores under the same merchant. The terminal ID stays the same.

POST /terminals/change

{
  "terminal$id": "trm_abc123",
  "storeId": "str_newstore456"
}

Terminals can only be moved between stores belonging to the same merchant. To reassign across merchants, use the Move Terminal endpoint.

Move Terminal (Cross-Merchant)

Partners who manage terminal inventory in bulk can reassign a hardware terminal to a different merchant entirely.

PUT /partners/{partnerId}/terminals/{terminalSerialNo}/move

{
  "targetMerchantId": "mrc_target789"
}

This endpoint uses the terminal’s serial number rather than its terminal ID.

Reboot Terminal

Remotely restart a terminal for troubleshooting or to apply firmware updates.

POST /terminals/{terminalId}/reboot

{}

Response:

{
  "status": "SUCCESS",
  "message": "Reboot command published successfully"
}

A SUCCESS status means the reboot command was sent. It does not guarantee the terminal has rebooted — the device must be connected to the network and not processing another command.

API Quick Reference

Operation	Method	Endpoint
Register in-store device	POST	/merchants/{merchantId}/stores/{storeId}/devices
Register online terminal	POST	/merchants/{merchantId}/stores/{storeId}/online-terminals
Set terminal config	PATCH	/merchants/{merchantId}/stores/{storeId}/terminals/{terminalId}
Fetch terminal config	GET	/merchants/{merchantId}/stores/{storeId}/terminals/{terminalId}/config
Change store	POST	/terminals/change
Move terminal	PUT	/partners/{partnerId}/terminals/{terminalSerialNo}/move
Reboot terminal	POST	/terminals/{terminalId}/reboot

For full endpoint details, see the Terminals API and Stores API reference documentation.