zkipster Payments includes a Tap to Pay feature that lets you collect card payments on-site using the zkipster app on your phone — no card reader or external hardware required. Guests simply tap their card or phone against yours to pay.
This article covers how to set up Tap to Pay and how to collect a payment during your event.
Before you start
Tap to Pay requires a supported device. See Supported Devices for Tap to Pay in zkipster for the full list.
Your Stripe account must be fully onboarded. See How to Configure your zkipster Account to Collect Payments.
Payments must be enabled for the event. See How to Enable Payments for an Event.
You must have Full access permissions for the event.
You must create a Stripe Reader Location in your Stripe dashboard before completing the in-app setup. See the instructions below.
Step 1: Create a Stripe Reader Location
Before setting up Tap to Pay in the app, you need to create a Terminal Location in your Stripe dashboard. This tells Stripe where your device will be collecting payments.
Log in to your Stripe dashboard at stripe.com.
Go to Payments → Terminal → Locations.
Click Create Location and fill in the address of your event venue.
Save the location.
Important: The country of your Stripe Reader Location must match the country where your event is taking place, and must also match the country of your Stripe business account. If these three things do not align — business country, reader location country, and payment currency — Tap to Pay will not work.
For example: if your Stripe business is registered in the UK and your event is in the UK, your reader location must be set to a UK address and payments must be collected in GBP.
You only need to do this once per location. If you run events at the same venue regularly, you can reuse the same reader location.
Step 2: Complete the in-app Tap to Pay setup
This setup must be completed on each device you want to use to collect payments. It is not shared across devices.
Open the zkipster app and go to your event.
Tap the More menu (⋯) in the navigation menu at the bottom of the screen.
Select Payment Settings.
Tap Set Up Tap to Pay and follow the on-screen steps.
During setup, you will be asked to:
Select a Stripe Reader Location — choose the location you created in Step 1, or create a new one
Select your device — your phone will be shown as the available reader
Select a currency — choose the currency you want to collect payments in (only currencies configured in your Stripe account are shown)
Allow location access — Stripe requires your device's location to verify that you are collecting payments in the correct country. If you decline this, Tap to Pay will not work.
Please note: On iOS, you will first see a welcome screen explaining Tap to Pay. This is a requirement from Apple and cannot be skipped on first launch.
Once setup is complete, you are ready to collect payments.
Step 3: Collect a payment
All on-site payments start from the guest's profile in the app.
Find the guest in your event's guest list and open their profile.
Tap the Payments tab.
Tap New Payment (or Collect Payment).
Select a payment description from the list (for example: Event Ticket, Donation, Parking).
Enter the amount.
Tap Collect Payment.
The Tap to Pay flow will then launch. Ask the guest to tap their card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay against the back of your phone.
Once the payment is confirmed, a success screen will appear and the payment will be recorded on the guest's profile.
Payment descriptions
Payment descriptions are short labels that appear on the payment record (for example: Event Ticket, Donation, Parking Ticket). They help you and your team identify what each payment was for.
Four default descriptions are provided: Event Ticket, Donation, Ticket, and Parking Ticket. You can add, edit, or delete descriptions in Payment Settings → Payment Descriptions in the app.
Please note: On mobile, the payment name shown on the transaction record is always Tap to Pay. This is set by Stripe and cannot be changed. The payment description is the field you control, and it will appear alongside the payment name in the guest's payment history.
Collecting multiple payments from the same guest
There is no limit on the number of payments a guest can make. To collect another payment from the same guest, simply go back to their Payments tab and tap New Payment again.
If Tap to Pay is not working
The most common reasons Tap to Pay fails:
Issue | What to check |
Payment declined or fails to process | Confirm that your Stripe business country, reader location country, and payment currency all match |
"Device not supported" error | Check that your device is on the supported list. See Supported Devices for Tap to Pay |
No reader location shown during setup | Make sure you have created at least one location in your Stripe dashboard under Terminal → Locations |
Tap to Pay not available in the app | Check that payments are enabled for the event and that you have Full access permissions |
If you are using a real card in a staging or test environment, the payment will fail — test environments only accept Stripe test cards.