Updating (reprogramming) my terminal

If you have an existing credit card terminal, it can sometimes be brought over to work on Dharma’s systems. There are several factors that determine if a terminal will be compatible or not, many of which are outside of Dharma’s control. So, know that we’ll do our best to bring over existing equipment, but we can’t make any guarantees. Here are the factors to consider when considering reprogramming your terminal for Dharma:

• PIN-debit won’t work for terminals that you bring to Dharma. This is due to the fact that PIN-entry requires your terminal to have an “encryption key” physically injected into the terminal. Encryption keys are unique to each provider – that means that if you bring us a terminal, it won’t have Dharma’s encryption key – so we can’t enable PIN debit in the terminal. However, you can still swipe debit cards and collect signatures, like you do with credit cards.
• Some existing terminals are “locked” by the previous provider, meaning the terminal will only work with that specific provider. Unfortunately, we sometimes can’t know if a terminal is locked until we attempt to reprogram it. This can be frustrating to learn after the fact, but unfortunately there is no way to know until we try! Dharma does not lock terminals that we sell.
• If you currently lease or rent your terminal from your provider, chances are that your provider owns the terminal, and you won’t be able to bring it to Dharma. Many lease-providers provision their contracts to ensure that you can’t move your terminal to another provider.
• Your terminal could be nearing the End-of-Life date. In order to remain PCI Compliant, all terminals are required to meet specific security standards. Many of these standards force terminal manufacturers to choose an “End of Life” date for the terminal. This means that you could be using a terminal that works right now, but that Dharma is unable to reprogram due to future security needs, such as EMV card acceptance.
• Some terminals are network specific. There are many different networks out there, and MOST terminals work on all the major networks. However, there are some terminals that will not be compatible with our networks.

For the above reasons, we highly recommend purchasing a terminal directly from Dharma! All Dharma-sold terminals will have a one-year warranty, will include PIN debit entry, and will arrive at your doorstep fully programmed and ready to go.