Payment processing is rarely the highlight of the working day. But it has to be accurate, clear, and reliable — and when it isn't, the problems tend to surface at the worst possible time: at the end of the day, when the team is trying to finish on time.

For many UK veterinary practices, the challenge isn't taking payment. It's what happens afterwards. Matching card totals, allocating payments to the correct invoice, and resolving mismatches can quietly add hours of administration over the course of a month. Integrated POS terminals and Merlin’s online payments are designed to remove those manual steps. When payments are properly connected, reconciliation becomes a quick check rather than a recurring task.

As Glenn Hodgson, BVM&S MRCVS, senior veterinary surgeon and co-owner of Apex Vets in Denny, Falkirk, and an MWI customer, puts it, "It's pretty revolutionary for the practice. It just works away in the background."

Why reconciliation creates extra work

In many practices, card machines still operate separately from the practice management system. The payment is taken on the terminal, and the record then has to be created and allocated manually in Merlin.

Glenn describes the process at Apex Vets when they were using a standalone terminal setup. “The team would raise the invoice in Merlin, then enter the amount again into the card machine. This approach works — but it adds an extra step, and an extra opportunity for error. We'd occasionally type that number in incorrectly. There's nothing worse than looking for the wrong receipt among a batch of two hundred receipts.”

For owners or practice managers, this is where the pressure shows up. One incorrect entry can mean longer cash-up times, rechecking figures, and rework. It also creates uncertainty. If one mismatch has been found, are there others?

The standard clients now expect

Outside the vet clinic, payment experiences are fast and seamlessly joined up. Glenn captures the comparison clearly. "The corner shop down the road can do this with their point-of-sale system. I couldn't do it with in vet practice?”

Clients are used to tapping a card, paying on their phone, and moving on. They don't see that as innovation — they see it as normal. As Glenn remarks, "This is just how life's supposed to work now. My car garage can do it; my dentist does it." When payments are smooth, clients don't comment on them. They just pay, and your team gets time back.

What changes with POS integration in Merlin

The biggest shift is simple: fewer manual actions at the desk. Instead of taking a payment and recording it separately in the PMS, integration offers seamless automated reconciliation, ensuring records are accurate.

At Apex Vets, the biggest benefit was reconciliation. When asked whether integration had helped with end-of-day cashing up, Glenn is direct in his praise: "Yes, it helped massively." 

The team changed how often they needed to reconcile card payments altogether, moving from a daily cashing up to a weekly cashing up. Glenn predicts they are on the way to a monthly process. "We compare Merlin payments card for the month, Dojo payments card for the month and if they match, we're finished the entire job in 2 minutes." Previously, that same work could take many hours across a month.

That change matters. Reconciliation moves from a frequent interruption to a simple monthly check. For practice managers, the value is clear: less admin time, fewer errors to track down, and more confidence in the numbers.

Merlin online payment links: Removing friction from payment

POS integration streamlines payments taken in practice. Integrated online payment links streamline remote payments.

Glenn explains why links make such a difference for outstanding balances. "People with outstanding balances, if it's sitting in front of them with a link they can click on, they use their phone's stored bank card.”

Alternatives create friction. "If they've got to phone us, go on hold, wait, speak to someone, it can be too much.” For practices, that friction shows up as chasing payments, receptionists spending more time on the phone, and accounts staying open longer than they should. When payment is one tap on a phone, fewer balances drift.

Taking payment out of the discharge conversation

Payment can be one of the most awkward parts of patient pickup — it often competes with conversations about post-operative care and next steps. At Apex Vets, Glenn describes plans to introduce payment links into inpatient workflows. "We send the home care instructions. We can then send them a link. They can pay it before they come in and just focus on their pet." For practices, this improves flow at busy collection times and reduces pressure on reception teams.

Online payment links can carry a higher transaction fee than card-present payments, which means they work best when used deliberately. As Glenn notes, "I'm mindful the payment link adds to the cost of the transaction value. We have to decide if it pays off."

A useful way to think about it is to consider when a payment link saves meaningful staff time, where it reduces chasing and improves collections, and where it improves the client experience at sensitive moments. For many practices, the answer points to debtors, insurance balances, and selected planned procedures.

The bottom line for practice managers

Integrated POS terminals and Merlin online payment links don't just modernise payments — they reduce administrative effort in ways teams feel quickly. Manual entry and the errors that come with it are reduced, reconciliation shifts from a daily task to weekly or even, monthly, and payment links remove barriers that previously kept outstanding balances open.