Boost recurring donations this giving season with the upsell prompt!Soapbox Engage Onsite lists a Stripe Terminal reader only while it is powered on, online, and registered to the same Stripe account as your site. A reader that fails any of those is simply absent from the list — the app does not report it as offline, so an empty list is the symptom.
Work through these in order.
The reader is asleep or off the network
The most common cause, and the quickest to fix. Wake the reader, confirm it shows as connected on its own screen, and reopen the reader list in the app.
The reader is on a different Stripe account
A reader registered to another Stripe account — a second organization, or an account used for testing — never appears, however healthy it is. Confirm in your Stripe dashboard that the reader belongs to the same account your site uses.
The battery is flat
A reader running on battery through a long event can drop off without anyone noticing. Keep readers on power where you can.
Your staff member already chose a different reader
Reader choice is remembered for the rest of that person's session. If they are looking at the wrong reader rather than no reader, tap Change reader on the payment screen to pick another.
No readers at all
If your organization does not use Terminal readers, the Terminal Reader option does not appear. This is expected. Collect payment by QR code or by entering the card on the staff device instead — see Choosing how to collect a payment.
Keep taking money while you fix it
Do not hold up a payer while you diagnose a reader. Switch to QR Code and let them pay on their own phone.
Related articles: