Who this is for
CRM administrators who set up payment gateways, and front-desk / billing staff who take card payments from the Add Payment screen. No technical knowledge is needed.
The short version
Your CRM can now take card payments through Smart Merchant (your NMI-based card processor), next to the gateways it already supported. You set up one Smart Merchant account per location under Settings → Payment Settings, and from then on Add Payment, payment plans and the customer payment page charge cards through Smart Merchant.
You enter the card number in fields that belong to the payment gateway, not the CRM. The CRM never sees, sends or stores the card number — it only receives the result.
Before you start
1. Ask Dazos support to switch Smart Merchant on for your CRM. Until then the tab described below is not shown.
2. For each location, get two keys from your Smart Merchant control panel (Settings → Security Keys):
3. the Public Tokenization Key (listed under *Public Security Keys*, type "Tokenization"), and
4. the Private Security Key (listed under *Private Security Keys*, type "API").
5. Note the Gateway Url Smart Merchant gave you. The CRM pre-fills the standard live address; change it only if Smart Merchant told you to (a test/sandbox account uses the sandbox address, and its keys work only there).
Set up a Smart Merchant account (administrators)
Go to Settings → Payment Settings and open the Smart Merchant tab.
Settings → Payment Settings → Smart Merchant tab
2. Fill in the form:
Field | What to enter |
Company / Location name | How the location should appear in the Payment Account list |
Tokenization Key | The public key from the control panel |
Security Key | The private key from the control panel (shown as dots; never displayed again) |
Gateway Url | Leave as pre-filled unless Smart Merchant gave you another address |
Status | Active |
Default | Tick for the location that should be pre-selected on Add Payment |
The Smart Merchant account form
3. Click Save. The CRM checks the Security Key with the gateway before storing it.
4. If the key is wrong, or a sandbox key is used with the live Gateway Url, you see a message saying the gateway rejected the key, and nothing is saved. Check the key and the address and try again.
5. If the key is accepted, the page reloads and the account appears in the table with the Security Key shown as stored (encrypted).
6. Repeat for every location. Use the pencil icon in the table to edit a row; leaving the Security Key empty while editing keeps the stored one.
Good to know: the CRM uses one gateway type at a time. Saving a Smart Merchant account switches the other gateway types off, exactly as it does for the gateways you already had.
Take a card payment (staff)
1. Open the patient's Account record → Transactions → Add Payment.
2. Choose the Payment Account (the location). The Smart Merchant card fields appear: Card Number, Expiry (MM/YY) and CVV.
Add Payment with the Smart Merchant card fields
3. Tick the charge(s) to pay and enter the amount, complete the billing details if they are empty, then enter the card details.
Card details entered
4. Click Pay. When the gateway approves the charge you see Payment successfully completed, the page refreshes and the payment appears in the Transactions list and in the patient balance, like any other payment.
Payment successfully completed
When a card is declined
The screen shows the gateway's answer, for example Payment declined: DECLINE. Nothing is recorded against the patient. Ask the customer for another card and start Add Payment again.
A declined card
If the card fields themselves refuse the input (for example "Card number: is invalid"), the message names the field to correct; the payment is not sent until the fields are valid.
Payment plans (installments)
Choose the plan option on Add Payment exactly as before. The first installment is charged right away; the gateway keeps the card on file securely and the remaining installments are charged automatically on their due dates. Each installment appears as its own payment. If an installment is refused by the gateway it is recorded as failed and will be retried on the next run; the plan does not skip ahead.
Customer payment page
The payment link you send to customers works with Smart Merchant accounts too: the customer sees the same gateway-hosted card fields, and a successful payment is recorded on their account with the location it was paid to.
Messages you may see
Message | Meaning | What to do |
The gateway rejected the security key (Authentication Failed)… | Wrong Security Key, or a sandbox key with the live address (or the other way round) | Re-copy the key from the control panel; check the Gateway Url |
The gateway could not be reached… | Network problem or gateway outage while checking the key or charging | Try again in a moment |
Payment declined: … | The card issuer or the gateway refused the charge; the reason follows | Use another card |
The payment gateway did not return a card token… | The card fields could not complete the secure step | Try again; if it persists, check the account's Gateway Url and Tokenization Key in Settings |
The security key could not be stored securely… | The CRM's encryption key is not configured for this CRM | Contact Dazos support |
Frequently asked questions
Does the CRM store card numbers? No. The card fields on screen belong to the payment gateway. The CRM receives a one-time token and the result of the charge, never the card number or CVV.
Where is the Security Key kept? Encrypted in your CRM's database. It is never shown again after saving — the table says "stored (encrypted)".
Can I use a sandbox (test) account first? Yes: create the account with the sandbox keys and the sandbox Gateway Url. Test card 4111 1111 1111 1111 (any future expiry, any CVV) is approved; amounts under 1.00 are declined, which is handy for testing the decline message.
Can I refund from the CRM? Not yet — refunds and voids are done in the Smart Merchant control panel, as with the other gateways.
Does it take bank account (ACH) payments? Not in this release; card payments only.
Why does the same amount on the same card fail a second time within a few minutes? The gateway blocks accidental duplicate charges for a short window; it reports "Duplicate transaction" and nothing is recorded. Wait a few minutes or change the amount.