Payments
Overview & Setup
What Cash Drawer is, how it differs from a Glory recycler, the certified hardware it requires, and how to connect and enable it in Cloud.
📋 Overview
Cash Drawer lets a Mashgin kiosk accept cash without a cash recycler. Instead of a machine that counts and dispenses cash automatically, a cashier takes the payment and makes change from a traditional drawer that opens on command.
This guide covers what Cash Drawer requires, how to connect the hardware, and how to turn it on in Cloud. It is a one-time setup task for an administrator or deployment engineer. For day-to-day register use, see the Cashier Guide at the bottom of this page.
Cash Drawer requires a cashier. Every cash transaction needs a staff member present to take the money and hand back change. There is no self-service cash flow. It also requires a two-display kiosk with an active staff screen.
🆚 Cash Drawer vs. Cash Recycler
Cash Drawer
- A cashier takes the money and counts out the change
- Not self-service, so staff have to be at the lane
- Lower cost, less to maintain
- Best for attended lanes that accept cash occasionally
Cash Recycler (Glory / PayPod)
- The machine accepts, validates, and dispenses cash on its own
- Fully self-service
- Higher cost and more to maintain
- Best for high-volume self-checkout with steady cash use
A location can run a cash drawer or a cash recycler, not both. Enabling the cash drawer hides the recycler settings.
✅ Before You Begin
Confirm all of the following before ordering hardware or scheduling a go-live:
- A supported two-display setup: either a kiosk with a second screen, or a Power Counter with a second screen. One screen faces the customer, the other faces the cashier.
- The staff screen is enabled and working. Cash Drawer depends on it to open and close tills, so cash cannot be accepted without it.
- Cash is enabled as a payment method for the location.
- A certified cash drawer and a certified receipt printer (see below).
- If the location previously used a Glory cash recycler, it must be uninstalled first.
🔌 Hardware Requirements
💰 Certified cash drawers
Any DK/printer-driven drawer from Star's CD3 Value Series, CD4 Choice Series, or CD5 Max Series.
Other printer-driven drawers will most likely work but have not been certified. If you want to use a different model, contact Mashgin Support to request certification before you buy.
🖨️ Certified receipt printers
The POS88iii printer.
Any receipt printer with a DK port should work, but only the POS88iii has been certified.
🔗 How the drawer connects
The drawer does not plug into the kiosk. It plugs into the receipt printer's DK port using an RJ-style connector. When the kiosk triggers an open, the printer sends a 24V pulse that releases the drawer solenoid. No separate driver is needed for the drawer itself.
Star cash-drawer cables have labeled ends, and the two ends are not interchangeable even though they look identical. Check the labels and confirm which end goes to the printer and which goes to the drawer before connecting.
🧭 Setup Steps
Step 1. Remove an existing cash recycler
Skip this step if the location has never had a cash recycler.
If a Glory or other cash machine was previously in use, it has to be removed before the drawer will work, because the two cannot coexist. Contact Mashgin Support to have the cash machine uninstalled and the kiosk services restarted.
Step 2. Connect the hardware
Connect the drawer to the receipt printer's DK port using the correct end of the Star cable, then confirm the printer is powered and online.
Step 3. Enable Cash Drawer in Cloud
In Cloud, open the location's Settings, then:
- Under Payment Methods, make sure Cash is enabled.
- In the Cash Drawer section, turn on the cash drawer setting.
Reference Image: Cash drawer settings in Cloud
Step 4. Set your float and safe drop values
Still in the Cash Drawer section:
- Target Float. The amount that should be in the drawer at the start of the day. This is also used to suggest safe drop amounts.
- Safe Drop Threshold (Max Cash). The maximum cash allowed in the drawer before the kiosk prompts for a safe drop. Leave this blank to turn off automatic prompts.
Step 5. Configure reason codes
Reason codes are the short explanations a cashier picks when moving cash for a non-sale reason. You can configure them per operation: Pay-In, Payout, Safe Drop, No Sale, and Close Till with Variance.
Default codes are provided. You can add your own, disable ones you do not use, and reorder them. When reason codes are enabled, the cashier must pick one before the drawer will open.
Step 6. Test the drawer
On the kiosk, open a till and run a No Sale to confirm the drawer physically opens. If nothing happens, recheck the cable orientation from Step 2.
🔐 Cashier Permissions
Cash Drawer actions can be granted or withheld per cashier tier. When a cashier tries a gated action without permission, the kiosk asks for a manager PIN.
- Cash in. Adding cash to the drawer (pay-in)
- Cash out. Removing cash from the drawer (payout)
- Print report. Seeing the expected drawer balance and the over/short variance at close
Set these so that everyday cashiers can take payments and run safe drops, while pay-ins, payouts, and balance visibility stay with managers.
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Need help? Contact support at 📧 help@mashgin.com or call (855) 475-0889