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      Payment Terminals' Fallback to 4G

      Payment Terminals' Access-to-Internet

      To process a transaction, the payment terminal needs to have internet access. Terminals would need access to Internet in order to validate the payment request and get a result, in order to approve or refuse a transaction. 

      Offline payments is a possibility but with a lot of limitations, number of transactions being one. Hence, access-to-internet is absolutely critical. 

      There are 2 types of terminals, with or without 4G fallback. The 2 most popular ones with fallback option (provided by our global acquirer) are V400m and S1F2

      Dependency on Local Network for Integrated Payments

      There are 2 forms of Integrated payments I.E POS Initiated payments to work, Local or Cloud. 

      Integration Type Advantage Limitation
      Local Comms : when communication between the POS unit and the payment terminal is Direct.
      POS Unit <=> Payment Terminal <=> Payments Server.       		 Faster processing times as there is only 1 point of interaction that requires Internet.
      POS Unit <=> Payment Terminal <=> Payments Server      		 first part of communication (POS Unit <=> Payment Terminal) if  set to happen only when both the units are on the same network. This means the Payment terminal, irrespective of its access to internet, should always stay on the same network as the POS unit is on for Integrated Payments to work.
      Cloud Comms : when the communication between the POS unit and the payment terminal is Indirect.
      POS Unit <=> Payments Server <=>  Payment Terminal       		 Easy to setup and no limitation of local network settings on the POS units and Payment Terminals to communicate with each other for Integrated Payments. Slower, compared to Local Comms, processing times as there are 2 points of interaction that require Internet.
      POS Unit <=> Payments Server <=>  Payment Terminal 

      Terminals' Ability to Fallback

      Fallback is the ability for terminals to take Standalone payments, at least, if not Integrated payments.

      Refer to this article for troubleshooting a terminal and getting it OFF local network

      V400m and S1F2 terminals both come with 4G backup for fallback scenarios. P400 terminals do not have 4G backup but has WiFi capability which means in the case of fallback scenarios can connect with another device with Internet, over hotspot.

      Terminal Modal Advantage Limitation
      V400m - WiFi and 4G
      V400m Oolio

       

      		 V400m terminals can automatically switch their Access-to-Internet from local network to 4G whenever local network is down and back to local network when it is back up. These terminals are smart enough to understand if the local network that it is connected to, has access to Internet or not.
      This allows the terminal to access internet over 4G even though the terminal is connected on WiFi allowing Integrated payments to work on Local Comms Integration Type amidst of its limitation      		 The unit is equipped with a physical sim card which has a possibility of being removed / tampered with that leads to no Backup / fallback when required. 
      S1F2 - WiFi or 4G
      S1F2 Oolio

       

      		 S1F2 units come with e-sim and not a physical sim, that can be removed or tampered, like in V400m terminals. Hence a better reliability for backup / fallback when required. S1F2 terminals do not Indicate No Internet when the local network it is connected to has lost its access to Internet. 
      S1F2 terminals cannot automatically switch their Access-to-Internet from local network to 4G whenever local network is down.
      The terminal needs to be manually switched over to 4G by going into its Network Settings and turn OFF the WiFi
      This limitation doesn't allow the terminal to access internet over 4G when the terminal is connected on WiFi. Hence Integrated payments fail to work on Local Comms Integration Type
      P400 - No 4G backup
      P400 Oolio

       

      		 The terminal will indicate No Internet when the local network it is connected to has lost its access to Internet. P400 terminals do not have the inbuilt capability of 4G network.