Connecting payments and understanding payouts

Sidebar: Business Settings, then Payment Settings.

Only the owner and co-owners can connect a card processor or see payouts. Managers can open Payment Settings to change tax and booking policies, but not the processor or the bank account.

Until payments are connected, Alaga still records cash and check payments. Card payments through Alaga do not work yet.

Already take cards with Square? You can connect Square instead and use your Square Terminal or Reader. See Connecting Square to take card payments.

Connecting Alaga Payments

Go to Payment Settings. Stay on the Payment Settings tab.
On the Alaga Payments card, press Set up Alaga Payments.
Fill in the form that opens. You will need:

Your legal business name and type
A business address and phone number
Your tax ID number
Identity details for the owner
The bank account you want money paid into

When you finish, press Refresh status if the card has not updated.

Have the details ready. It takes about ten minutes in one go. If you stop partway, the button changes to Continue onboarding.

Enter these details yourself. Nobody at Alaga will ever ask for your bank details, card numbers or tax ID by email or phone. Anyone who does is not us.

Two switches, not one

The Alaga Payments card shows four things: Setup status, Payments enabled, Payouts enabled and Requirements due.

Payments enabled — you can charge cards.
Payouts enabled — money can be sent to your bank.

It is normal for payments to be on while payouts are still pending. You can trade. The money is held and released once checks finish. When everything is ready, the card says "Alaga Payments is active".

When verification asks for more

Sometimes the card says Additional information is needed to keep payments active and lists what is missing, such as proof of identity or address. This comes from the card processor, not from Alaga. It is usually triggered by the details entered, not by anything being wrong.

Deal with it quickly. Payouts stay paused until it is done.

How payouts work

A payment is a customer's money reaching your Alaga Payments account. A payout is that money being sent to your bank. They happen on different days.

Payouts run on a schedule, usually a couple of business days after the payment.
Your first payout takes longer, often a week or more. This is normal for every processor.
Payouts are grouped. One bank deposit usually covers several days, so it rarely matches a single day's sales.

After you connect, an Overview tab appears. Once payments are on, Transactions, Payouts and Disputes tabs appear too. Use Payouts to match your bank statement. To close out a day, see The End of Day report and closing out.

Fees

The processor takes a percentage plus a small fixed amount from each card payment, before the payout reaches your bank. Your reports show what the customer paid. Your bank shows what arrived after fees. Both are right. The difference is the processing fee.

Test before you go live

Take one real payment on your own card for a dollar or two. Then refund it from the Transactions tab. This checks the whole path: the charge, the record in Alaga, and the refund.

Do this before your first real customer.

If card payments still do not work

Check the Alaga Payments card shows Payments enabled: Yes.
Sign out and back in on the device that has the problem.
Check the person at the front desk has a role that allows Check out & take payment.

If all three are fine, contact support from the Help button.