---
type: concept
tags: [parking, payment, pci, p2pe, pos, threat-model]
sources: [parking-system-architecture]
updated: 2026-07-01
status: open
---

# Card payments (P2PE POS) — disabled until a terminal is on-site

The app **models** a `card` tender end-to-end, but as of **2026-07-01 there is no card processor /
POS terminal on any site**, so the card option is **disabled in the UI**. This page records why,
what a future POS needs, and how to re-enable — so the gap isn't rediscovered as "why can't I take a
card?".

## Current state — CASH ONLY (2026-07-01)

- The booth pay/exit modal and the subscription-sale form show **cash only**. The tender picker is
  **suppressed entirely** when there's nothing to choose (payment silently defaults to `cash`).
- Nothing about the data model changed: `Tender = "cash" | "card"` still exists ([[technology-stack|
  shared]] `packages/shared`), the server/`payment` events, [[shift]] accounting, and
  [[reporting-analytics|reports]] all still understand `card` — this is **only a UI gate**, so any
  historical `card` events (or a future re-enable) stay coherent.
- Flag: **`apps/web/src/lib/features.ts` → `CARD_PAYMENTS_ENABLED = false`**. Both tender pickers
  (`BoothPayModal.tsx`, `SubscriptionManager.tsx`) render card only when it is `true`.

**Why disable rather than leave it?** Offering "Card" with no terminal lets an operator record a card
payment that **never actually cleared** — money that isn't in the drawer and didn't hit the bank —
which silently corrupts the [[shift|till reconciliation]] and the [[reconciliation|financial audit]].
On a system whose adversary is the [[threat-model|booth operator]], a tender the site can't fulfil is
a fraud/error surface, not a convenience. Cash-only is the honest state until hardware exists.

## The constraint a POS must satisfy — PCI scope stays OUT of the app

This is a **standing architectural rule** ([[bom]], [[open-questions]] #3, [[parking-session]]):
card capture goes through a **standalone, bank-certified P2PE (point-to-point encryption) terminal** —
the application **must never see card data (PAN, track, CVV)**. The app only records that a payment's
`tender` was `card`; the terminal does the capture, encryption, and settlement against the acquiring
bank. This keeps the whole appliance **out of PCI-DSS scope**, which is a hard requirement (a booth PC
in PCI scope is a non-starter).

The terminal model is **dictated by the acquiring bank** (not our choice) — verify local
availability (Albania/EU) when the bank is chosen. See [[bom]] "Payment".

## Future POS device — what has to be configured (open)

When a terminal is procured, this is the outline (details TBD — flag on [[open-questions]] #3):

1. **Hardware**: a bank-certified standalone P2PE terminal beside the booth PC + the cash drawer.
2. **Integration boundary**: decide how the app learns a card sale succeeded WITHOUT touching card
   data — options range from *manual* (operator runs the card on the terminal, then confirms in the
   app → a `card` `payment` event) to a *terminal-integration* (the app requests an amount, the
   terminal returns an approved/declined result over a local link). The manual path keeps PCI scope
   trivially out; an integration must preserve the same boundary (no PAN ever reaches the app).
3. **Device model**: if integrated, the terminal becomes a [[device-registry|device adapter]] behind
   an interface (like reader/printer/relay) — a `payment-terminal` capability — so a hardware swap is
   a new adapter, nothing else. A *manual* terminal needs no adapter (it's off-system; the app just
   records the tender).
4. **Reconciliation**: card takings must reconcile against the **terminal's/bank's** settlement
   report, separately from the cash drawer (card money never enters the drawer). [[shift]] Z-reports
   already split cash vs card totals — wire the card side to the terminal batch.

## Re-enabling

1. Provision + configure the terminal (per above).
2. Flip `CARD_PAYMENTS_ENABLED = true` in `apps/web/src/lib/features.ts`. The tender pickers reappear.
3. If integrated, add the `payment-terminal` adapter + wire the approved-result → `card` `payment`
   event. If manual, no code beyond the flag.
4. Update this page (→ `status: settled`) and [[open-questions]] #3.

## Relates

- [[bom]] — the payment subsystem line (certified P2PE terminal + cash drawer, PCI-out-of-scope).
- [[open-questions]] #3 — payment subsystem (manned booth P2PE vs unmanned pay station).
- [[parking-session]] / [[shift]] — where `tender` is recorded and reconciled.
- [[threat-model]] — why a tender the site can't fulfil is a fraud surface.