Most dental and veterinary practices assume they need expensive card readers or complex point-of-sale systems to accept credit cards. But that's no longer true. From tap-to-pay on your smartphone to virtual terminals and text-to-pay links, you can now process payments using the devices you already carry or the software you already use. These machine-free methods cost less, require no monthly equipment fees, and work seamlessly whether patients and clients are at your reception desk, in the exam room, or paying after hours from home.
You can accept credit cards through tap-to-pay on your phone, virtual terminals accessed via web or practice management software, text-to-pay payment links, instant payment invoices, and recurring payment plans. Each method works independently or together, with automatic card detection so your practice doesn't have to manage different systems for different situations.
The five primary methods are:
None of these methods require a card reader subscription ($35/month), setup fees, or cancellation fees. Nadapayments charges only when a payment goes through: 3% for credit card surcharges (paid by the customer) or 1.5% plus $0.25 for debit cards. This is true whether you process one payment a month or hundreds.
Tap-to-pay uses your smartphone's built-in NFC technology to accept contactless payments instantly. Your patient or client holds their Apple Pay, Google Pay, or NFC-enabled credit card near your phone, payment completes in seconds, and you have no physical hardware to manage or maintain.
Here's how it works in practice. At a dental office, after a patient's cleaning and exam, the receptionist opens the Nadapayments tap-to-pay interface on a smartphone or tablet at the front desk. The patient holds their card or phone near the device, the amount displays, and the payment posts within seconds. No swiping, no inserting, no printer required.
In a veterinary practice, the same method applies when clients pay after wellness visits, vaccinations, or surgical procedures. Mobile vets who visit animal farms or house-call clinics can process payments from the parking lot or examination space, and automatic card detection means the app recognizes every major card brand without manual setup.
Tap-to-pay requires no monthly equipment fee and no card reader. The security is built into your phone's hardware and tokenizes the card data so your practice never touches raw card numbers. Transaction fees apply only when a payment completes.
A virtual terminal is a secure web interface where you manually enter a customer's card details to process payments. It's ideal for phone payments, invoicing, refunds, and situations where the patient is not physically present or cannot use tap-to-pay.
Imagine a dental patient calls the office to reschedule and asks about their unpaid balance from a recent root canal. Without leaving your desk, you can open the Nadapayments virtual terminal, enter their account information and card details, and process the payment in under a minute. The patient never has to come back in, and their account is settled immediately.
Virtual terminals are equally critical in veterinary practices, especially for clients who receive treatment estimates and authorization forms by email. Instead of requiring a return visit to pay, the vet clinic enters the client's card details into the virtual terminal, processes the charge, and emails a receipt. For veterinarians performing boarding, daycare, or grooming services, you can process daily or weekly charges without the customer being on-site.
The virtual terminal is available within Nadapayments or can be accessed through your existing practice management software (Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, and Curve Dental for dentists; Cornerstone, ImproMed, Infinity, and IntraVet for veterinarians). You control every transaction and maintain full visibility of payment history and customer records.
Text-to-pay sends a secure payment link via SMS that customers click to pay on their phone. No phone call needed, no email required, no receptionist handling, and customers pay instantly from anywhere.
After a patient completes their dental treatment and is ready to check out, the receptionist sends a text message with a secure payment link. The patient receives the link on their phone, clicks it, and enters their card details on a Nadapayments-hosted page. The payment posts immediately, and the patient has a digital receipt. They never handle cash or sit at the front desk waiting.
For veterinary practices, text-to-pay is transformative for boarding and daycare operations. A client drops off their dog for a week of boarding. At checkout, the vet sends a text with a payment link and the boarding total. The client can pay immediately from the parking lot or later that evening, and the vet has confirmation of payment without managing multiple phone calls or credit card numbers verbally.
Text-to-pay also reduces no-shows and payment disputes. Customers know the exact amount due, see it clearly on their phone, and have a receipt immediately. The link can be customized to include your practice's branding, a message, and any relevant account details.
Yes. You can generate payment links to include in emails, statements, or invoices, or send them directly as a standalone message. Payment links work on any device and let customers pay on their own schedule, with no staff intervention required.
In a dental office, you can attach payment links to treatment plans emailed to patients before their procedure. The patient reviews the plan, clicks the link, and pre-pays or authorizes the charge before the appointment. This reduces chairside financial discussions and ensures payment is already processed when they arrive.
Veterinary clinics can embed payment links in discharge documents after surgery, vaccination, or emergency care. The client receives the invoice with a clickable payment button, pays from home on their schedule, and the practice has automatic confirmation of payment without follow-up.
Payment links are also invaluable for multi-location practices. Each branch can send invoices with their own branded payment link, and all funds route to one central account. Automatic card detection ensures every payment is recognized and processed correctly regardless of card type or payment method.
Recurring payments and payment plans are set up through your practice management software or the Nadapayments dashboard. Once established, automatic billing charges the customer on a schedule with no need for manual intervention or in-person visits.
Dental practices use recurring payments for patients undergoing extended cosmetic treatment, orthodontics, or implant procedures paid in monthly installments. Once the patient authorizes the initial charge, you configure the payment plan in your practice management system. Each month on the scheduled date, the payment processes automatically. No paper invoices, no calls to chase payment, no interruption to treatment if a payment is missed.
Veterinary clinics apply the same approach to boarding contracts, multimonth wellness programs, or pet insurance billing. Clients sign once, and recurring payments process automatically. If a card declines, Nadapayments can be configured to retry the transaction or alert your staff so you can contact the client.
Recurring payments reduce administrative burden by up to 20 hours per month in larger practices, because staff no longer manually invoice or follow up on unpaid balances. Payments arrive predictably, improving cash flow and allowing you to focus on patient care rather than accounts receivable.
Yes. Automatic card detection works across tap-to-pay, virtual terminals, text-to-pay, payment links, and recurring payments. Your practice doesn't need to manage separate systems or train staff on different processes for different card types.
Automatic card detection means Nadapayments recognizes whether a card is Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, or another major brand the moment the transaction begins. This is essential in dental and veterinary practices where patients and clients use different cards. A dental patient might tap with Apple Pay one visit and a physical credit card the next. The virtual terminal identifies the card automatically and processes it with no manual selection required.
The same applies to debit cards. If a customer's debit card is tapped at the front desk, the system immediately identifies it as debit and applies debit pricing (1.5% plus $0.25) instead of credit pricing (3% surcharge). This ensures your pricing is always accurate and fair to customers, and your accounting is simplified because every payment is categorized correctly the first time.
This automation scales across your entire practice. A reception desk using tap-to-pay, a clinical assistant processing a virtual terminal payment, and a post-visit text-to-pay link all use the same card detection engine. Staff doesn't need to learn multiple systems or worry about which tool is best for which situation.
A dental practice processing $50,000 in monthly credit card payments can save $14,400 annually by eliminating the $35/month card reader fee alone. With surcharging, your savings increase because customers pay the credit card processing fee instead of you.
Here's the math. The average dental practice that accepts credit cards processes $50,000 to $100,000 monthly. If you use a traditional card reader at $35/month, you're spending $420 annually just for hardware, with no guarantee of lower processing rates.
By eliminating the reader and using machine-free methods, you remove that $35/month cost immediately. $420 per year sounds modest, but it's $420 in profit that goes directly to your practice.
Surcharging amplifies this benefit. In 48 US states (Connecticut and Massachusetts prohibited; Colorado capped at 2%), practices can legally pass a 3% credit card surcharge to the customer. A patient paying a $1,000 orthodontic deposit pays an additional $30, and your practice recovers the processing cost at no expense to you. Over a month of $50,000 in credit card transactions, surcharging recovers $1,500 that would have otherwise been your cost.
The same applies to veterinary practices processing $85,000 monthly. Eliminating a $35/month card reader saves $420 annually. Surcharging on $85,000 in monthly charges (assuming 80% of payments are credit cards) recovers an additional $2,040 per month or $24,480 annually. Total annual savings: approximately $30,600.
For larger multi-location practices processing $120,000 or more monthly, machine-free payments become even more valuable. You avoid card reader fees across every location and scale surcharging across your entire patient or client base.
Important note: Surcharging is a choice, not a requirement. Nadapayments enables surcharging for practices that want it, but you can also absorb the cost or offer surcharging on credit only (not debit). The point is that you control pricing strategy, not the payment processor.
Yes. We support the major practice management systems used by dental and veterinary practices, including Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, Curve Dental for dentists and Cornerstone, ImproMed, Infinity, IntraVet for veterinarians. Payments process directly from your PMS without switching between systems.
Integration means your staff never opens a separate app or website to process payments. A receptionist at a dental practice using Eaglesoft can process tap-to-pay or virtual terminal payments directly from the patient's chart. The payment syncs automatically back to the practice management software, updating the account balance and creating payment records without duplicate entry.
Veterinary clinics using Cornerstone or ImproMed follow the same workflow. The client's bill displays in the PMS, and the veterinarian taps to process payment on their phone during the exam. The PMS immediately reflects the paid status, triggering automatic discharge documents and receipt generation.
This integration is especially critical for recurring payments and payment plans. Your PMS stores the authorization, and Nadapayments processes automatic billing on the schedule you set. If a payment fails, the PMS alerts you so you can contact the customer.
The integration also ensures compliance. Nadapayments uses PCI DSS Level 1 encryption, so cardholder data never passes through your practice's servers or systems. Your PMS communicates with Nadapayments securely, and only payment confirmations and transaction records return to your software.
Setup takes four steps: sign up for a Nadapayments account, connect your practice management software or choose standalone payment methods, configure your pricing strategy including surcharging if desired, and train your staff on the payment methods you'll use.
Step 1: Create Your Nadapayments Account
Visit nadapayments.com and sign up. You'll provide basic practice information, bank account details for deposit routing, and your principal owner information. There are no setup fees and no cancellation fees. You're ready to process payments as soon as your account is approved.
Step 2: Connect Your Practice Management Software or Choose Standalone Methods
If you use Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, Curve Dental, Cornerstone, ImproMed, Infinity, or IntraVet, connect your PMS to Nadapayments through the integration settings. If you don't use compatible PMS or want to use tap-to-pay as a standalone method, download the Nadapayments mobile app to your smartphone or tablet.
Step 3: Configure Your Payment Methods and Pricing
Enable the payment methods you want to offer: tap-to-pay, virtual terminal, text-to-pay, or payment links. Decide whether you'll pass surcharges to customers, absorb the cost, or surcharge credit only. Set up any recurring payment plans or payment plan templates. All configuration is done in your Nadapayments dashboard.
Step 4: Train Your Team
Walk your staff through the payment methods they'll use daily. Show receptionists how to send text-to-pay links, how to tap on the app, and how to use the virtual terminal. If you're using recurring payments, demonstrate how to set up a payment plan in your PMS. Nadapayments provides support resources and video tutorials for every feature.
Is text-to-pay secure and compliant with healthcare payment regulations?
Yes. Text-to-pay links route customers to Nadapayments-hosted payment pages with PCI DSS Level 1 encryption. Card data never passes through your practice's systems or SMS itself. The text contains only a unique, secure link. Nadapayments is fully compliant with HIPAA standards and PCI DSS requirements for dental and veterinary practices. Payments are processed securely whether they're initiated by text, email, or in-person.
Can I still use tap-to-pay if my practice already has a card reader?
Absolutely. Many practices use tap-to-pay alongside traditional readers during the transition period. Tap-to-pay costs nothing extra and requires no additional hardware or fees. You can stop using the reader whenever you're comfortable, eliminating the $35/month cost. Running both methods simultaneously doesn't affect your setup, and you can discontinue the reader contract with no penalty once you've transitioned your workflow to machine-free methods.
What happens if a payment link or text-to-pay link expires?
Payment links remain active indefinitely until the payment is completed. Customers can click the link days or weeks later and pay whenever they're ready. For recurring payments, links are never "sent" to customers in the traditional sense. Instead, you authorize the payment schedule once, and Nadapayments charges automatically on the dates you set. If you need to deactivate a specific link, you can do so in your dashboard, but for most practices, links stay active so customers have flexibility to pay when it suits them.
Are there any additional fees beyond the processing percentage and debit transaction fee?
No. Nadapayments charges only 3% for credit surcharges (paid by customer) or 1.5% plus $0.25 for debit. There are no setup fees, no monthly equipment fees, no cancellation fees, no virtual terminal fees, and no monthly minimums. You pay only when a payment goes through. Some practices choose surcharging, which means the customer covers the processing cost; others absorb the fee. Either way, there are no hidden costs or surprise charges.
Can I offer machine-free payments to clients who don't have smartphones or who prefer to call?
Yes. The virtual terminal is designed for exactly this scenario. You can answer a phone call, open the secure virtual terminal interface, enter the customer's card details, and process payment without them needing to visit your office, use an app, or click a link. The virtual terminal also works for situations where a patient is sitting in front of you but doesn't want to use tap-to-pay. You maintain complete flexibility and can offer multiple payment paths to accommodate every customer preference.
