How to receive credit card payments without a machine or terminal

No way around it. Any business intent on increasing sales, pleasing customers, and expanding operations has to accept credit card payments. In the past, this required that the store be equipped with a point of sale terminal, some form of card reader, often supplied by their payment processing company. 

Today, however, you don’t need that extra equipment — regardless of the payment method customers choose to use.

How card readers and terminals work.

A card reader is the hardware that businesses once used to accept customers’ credit and debit cards. Even today, readers are generally attached to point of sale terminals and are often used to take in-person payments. 

In the case of mobile transactions, the device might be connected to a tablet or smartphone.

Regardless of the type of reader, most are set up to accept a wide range of payments. These include EMV chip cards, magstripe swipe, and tap to pay. Customers are familiar with card readers and usually have no qualms about using them. 

In addition, they are affordable, convenient, and secure. 

However, today’s entrepreneurs now have other payment methods that are equally safe, trustworthy, and easy to use — and they don’t require bulky and expensive hardware.

Accepting in-person payments.

It is no longer necessary for a store to have a full-fledged point of sale terminal. Particularly for small- and medium-sized companies, tap to pay on iPhone offers an equally effective solution.

The merchant simply downloads a payment processing app onto their smartphone. The customer then simply places their own card or wearable device close to the merchant’s phone. Thanks to near-frequency communication technology, the payment will be securely processed within seconds.

Taking payments online

Another commonly used readerless payment method are payment links, which come into play when a customer purchases something online. For this process, merchants need a payment processor equipped with payment links and a payment gateway where card information is entered, screened, and communicated to the various entities involved in the financial ecosystem.

Online payments are crucial for ecommerce shops, but they can also have another important function. 

If you are ever working with an in-person customer when your conventional card reader malfunctions, you can easily switch over to your website and complete the sale through your gateway with barely a hitch.

Manual credit card processing.

Speaking of fallback options, there is the “by hand” method. While entering a customer’s card information into a payment system number by number is not preferred, it is viable when all else fails. The problem with this method is that it’s notoriously prone to human error and can leave your business more vulnerable to security breaches. 

Nevertheless, being able to input these details yourself into a Virtual Terminal can be a lifesaver if your regular card reader goes on the blink.

Relying upon this back-up carries another negative along with the risk of errors and security difficulties. This type of manual transaction is subject to higher per-transaction processing rates. This is because they are considered to be card-not-present, a transaction type that processors charge a higher fee for.

Credit card processing over the phone.

Restaurants that handle a lot of call-ahead pick-up or delivery orders are known for using this method to receive payments. Additionally, catalog stores and numerous other types of retailers need to accept phone payments from time to time. 

To do this, sellers use the virtual terminal, which is a web application designed specifically for this purpose. It acts like a standard point of sale terminal, allowing you to manually enter the client’s payment details. 

Once again, this phone payment will be considered a card-not-present transaction and, as such, will incur a higher fee.

Direct payment links.

We mentioned payment links earlier. This can be a great way to process customers’ transactions. Customers are sent a link in the form of a URL, a QR code, or a “buy now” button. Clicking on it takes the customer to a secure, hosted checkout site where their bill can be safely and quickly resolved.

Payment links bring with them a host of advantages for business owners. For one thing, they are flexible and can be embedded in an email, SMS text, placed on a website or put on a social media page. 

Even if a business does not have their own website, many payment processors will give merchants the option to place their branding on the processor’s hosted checkout — so it appears like the business has their own payment site.

This allows you to make the payment experience seamless for both established customers and those encountering your company for the first time.

From your perspective, payment links could not be easier to use. Obtained by contacting your payment processing company, they can then be accessed right from your dashboard and inserted into any vehicle you prefer. 

Your secure checkout site does not require any advanced technical expertise to set up, and your processing company generally provides payment link capabilities at no extra cost. Best of all, they can take care of their invoice from anywhere without sacrificing security.