You just finished a full set, gel top coat, and she is holding her hands out flat under the lamp. Then the question: "Can you grab my card? It's in my bag, the side pocket. No, the other side."
Now you are digging through her purse with gloved hands, or she is digging with wet nails and you are about to redo two of them.
Most of your clients already have their phone face up on the table. Nearly 60 million people use Cash App. Here is how to take it at the station so the only thing she has to do is point her camera.
Pay at the station while the polish sets
You type the price on your phone or tablet. A QR code for that amount appears. She holds her phone over it, taps once with a knuckle, and pays with Cash App. You are paid instantly.
No card changes hands. No reader to pass across the table. No signature with a pen she cannot hold yet.
One code per station
Every station can have its own counter QR code: each manicure table, each pedicure chair, the front desk.
- Pedicure clients pay from the chair. Feet in the tub, phone in hand. Nobody shuffles to the register in paper flip-flops.
- Each tech takes payment at her own station. No walking wet nails to the front to pay.
- The front desk can take walk-ins and add-ons on its own code.
The free plan covers a limited number of counter QR codes. Paid plans add more stations.
Bridal parties and groups
Saturday morning, six women, one bride, everyone wants a different color and nobody wants to be the one who fronts the bill. Type each person's share as its own payment. Six scans, six payments, done before the first coat dries. No math on the back of a receipt and no "I'll send you mine later."
Booth renters
If some of your techs rent their station and run their own business, set that up right. One riverArk account is one business. A tech who is her own business needs her own riverArk account and her own Strike business account. Each renter signs up as their own business, so their sales never mix with yours.
Techs who work on commission run under the salon's account on their own station code.
Final, like cash
A set is done when it is done. A card payment can come back weeks later as a dispute over a chip or a lifted corner. A Cash App payment through riverArk cannot be charged back. Handle a fix the way you always have, with a free repair, and handle money back the way you handle a cash return.
What it costs
You pay 1% on the first $5,000 a month that moves through riverArk, 0.85% up to $25,000, and 0.75% above that. Most small businesses pay 1.5% to 3.5% to take cards.
With Dynamic Pricing at +1%, the client covers the fee. Set it below zero and paying with Cash App earns her a small discount.
Set it up in three steps
- Open a Strike business account and link the salon's bank. Payments land there. With complete documents, approval usually takes a day or two. See the Strike setup guide.
- Sign up at ark.riverark.io, free to start, with your Strike username.
- Give each station a counter QR code and test with one payment from your own Cash App.
The full setup guide walks through every step, with video.
Stand the counter card at each table next to the polish rack. Put the door sticker on the glass. Teach the team one line: "You can pay with Cash App right here."
See it work from your own phone at ark.riverark.io/demo. Then sign up at riverark.io.
Tips
Tips are live. On the Plus plan and above, your client can tip when they pay with Cash App, so the tech gets it without anyone digging for cash or splitting a card tip at close.
FAQ
Can clients tip?
Yes. Tips are available on the Plus plan and above.
Can a client pay without touching anything but her phone?
Yes. You type the amount, the QR code shows on your screen, and she scans it with Cash App. Nothing to hand back and forth.
Can a bridal party pay separately?
Yes. Type each person's amount as its own payment. Each one scans and pays her share.
I rent my station. Can I use the salon's account?
No. One account is one business. If you run your own business, sign up with your own riverArk account and your own Strike business account.
Can I see each tech's sales?
Yes. Give each station its own counter QR code, so each tech takes payment where she works.
What if a client wants her money back after her nails chip?
Payments are final, like cash. Offer a repair, or handle money back the way you handle a cash return.