Paying

The payment screen is where the customer hands over money: coins, bills, or (where supported) card payments. The booth waits for credits to reach the order total, then advances automatically.

Who this is for: Operators who want to understand how payment works and what to do when it doesn't.

What's on the screen

• An order summary showing the product, quantity, and any cross-sell add-on
• A template preview so the customer remembers what they're paying for
• A copies badge showing how many they ordered
• The total price in large text
• The current credits loaded in the booth (also shown in the corner indicator)
• An animated cross-sell preview (if applicable)
• A Back button to cancel and return to the previous screen

How the payment screen works

The payment screen does not ask the customer to enter an amount. Instead:

1. The booth knows the total for the order.
2. The customer inserts coins or bills into the payment device on the booth.
3. Each accepted coin or bill becomes credits added to the customer's session balance.
4. The current credit balance is displayed live on the screen.
5. As soon as the credits reach or exceed the total, the screen auto-advances to printing.
6. Any excess credits beyond the total are held in the booth's credit balance and carry over.

There's a 2.5-second initial delay before the booth starts listening for credits. This prevents stale pulses from a previous session from being credited to the current one.

Free Play mode

When the booth is in Free Play mode (set in Settings → Operation Mode), the payment screen is skipped entirely. The customer goes straight from the extra-prints screen to printing.

The order summary still shows in the print thank-you screen, just without the price.

For when to use Free Play, see Operation modes (coming soon).

Cancel mid-payment

If the customer changes their mind, they can tap the Back button to cancel the order. They return to the previous screen (extra prints), and any credits they've already inserted stay in the credit balance. They can then start a fresh session and use those credits, or you can refund them in cash from the cash box (and deduct the credits from the Credits tab).

What customers see while waiting

The payment screen has subtle animations to keep customers engaged while they're inserting money:

• The credit count animates as credits are added
• The total turns green or pulses when credits reach the total
• The cross-sell preview rotates through angles every few seconds

What you control

In the Products tab:

• The base prices that determine the total

In the Settings tab:

• The operation mode (Coin Operated vs Free Play)

In the Diagnostics tab:

• The payment device COM port and the listener configuration

Idle behavior

The payment screen times out after about 120 seconds. If the customer doesn't insert any credits in that time, the booth shows a warning and then auto-cancels back to the welcome screen. Any credits inserted before the timeout stay in the balance.

What can go wrong

Customer inserts coins but the credit balance doesn't change

The PCB pill is probably red. The booth isn't talking to the payment device. See Payment not registering (coming soon).

Customer inserts coins but the screen doesn't advance

Check the credit balance vs the total. They may have only partially paid. They need to insert more.

Customer claims they paid the right amount but the booth says less

Open the Credits tab in admin and look at the recent Pulse transactions. If the booth received fewer pulses than expected, the payment device may be undercount or the customer's coin/bill was rejected without registering.

Customer paid but printing failed

The print failed after credits were already deducted. Don't automatically refund. The credits have already been spent. Instead, manually add credits equal to the lost session and tell the customer they can run another session for free. See Credits tab (coming soon).

What to tell customers

• "Insert your coins or bills into the slot. The screen will count them for you."
• "When you've put in enough, it'll go to the next screen by itself."
• "Tap Back if you want to cancel the order."

For free play events:

• "It's free today. Just tap Continue and your photos will print."

Common operator questions

The booth keeps auto-cancelling because customers take too long.

The 120-second timeout isn't operator-configurable. If your customers are slow with payment, encourage them to have their money ready before they start the session.

Can I support card payments?

Card support depends on the payment hardware your kiosk has. Talk to your BoothIQ point of contact.

Can I refund a customer from the booth?

Not directly. Take the credits down in the Credits tab and refund the customer in cash from the cash box. Document the refund somewhere outside the booth.

The customer over-paid.

The excess stays in the credit balance and is available to them or to the next customer who walks up. If you want to refund the excess, take it down in the Credits tab.

Next steps

• Printing and thank you. What happens after the customer pays.
• Payment not registering (coming soon). When credits aren't being added.
• Credits tab (coming soon). Where you'll spend time auditing payment.