POS terminal screen showing the cancellation transaction menu

Many transactions are carried out with cards on a POS terminal. In some cases, it may be necessary to reverse a transaction performed on the POS. Cancellation (void) is one such transaction. For a Sale transaction to be cancelled on the POS, the batch (end of day) must not yet have been closed. Otherwise, the transaction can be handled with a Refund instead.

So how does the POS determine whether a transaction can be cancelled?

Cancellation transactions on the POS are triggered through the Cancellation menu on the device. During a Cancellation transaction on the POS:

  1. First, the user is asked to select the Transaction Number. (The transaction number to be entered is the one belonging to the Sale transaction.)
  2. The process that follows after selecting the transaction number depends on whether the card is present during the cancellation.

If the card will be used during the transaction

  • After the "Please present your card" message, the card is read via the chip or magnetic stripe reader.
  • Using the Card Number, CVV, and other information read from the card, the POS searches its memory for the transaction number and card number. (If a batch close has been performed after the Sale transaction, these transactions can no longer be found in the POS memory.)

If the card will not be used during the transaction

  • After the "Please present your card" message, the Card Number, Expiry Date, and Security Code (CVV2) are entered.
  • Based on the information entered, the POS searches its memory for the transaction number and card number. (If a batch close has been performed after the Sale transaction, these transactions can no longer be found in the POS memory.)

3. If the relevant transaction is found, the Transaction Amount and Transaction Number are displayed on screen. The transaction can be continued or aborted using the Yes / No option.

4. When Yes is selected, the transaction is cancelled and a Cancellation receipt is printed from the POS.

5. If the transaction has already been cancelled, the process is aborted with a "Transaction Already Cancelled" message.

6. If there is no transaction on the POS (i.e., a batch close has just been performed), a "No Transaction" message appears when the Cancellation menu is clicked.