Who uses a virtual terminal?

Businesses that take phone orders, mail-in payments, B2B invoices, or email-based checkouts rely on virtual terminals daily, including call centers, home services, wholesalers, healthcare offices, and subscription businesses.

How is a virtual terminal different from a payment gateway?

A virtual terminal is a manual, browser-based tool for one-off and phone orders, while a full gateway integration is built for automated ecommerce checkout and high-volume recurring billing. Many merchants use both side by side.

Is a virtual terminal PCI compliant?

Yes. Card numbers entered into a CARDZ3N virtual terminal are tokenized immediately and never stored on your own servers, which keeps your PCI DSS scope small even though staff are manually keying in card details.

Can I set up recurring billing through a virtual terminal?

Yes. A card can be saved as a token and reused for installment plans, subscription renewals, or balances due, so your team is not re-keying the same customer's card details every billing cycle.

What equipment do I need to use a virtual terminal?

None beyond a computer or tablet with a web browser and an internet connection. There is no card reader or point-of-sale hardware to install, which makes a virtual terminal fast to roll out to a new call center seat or remote billing staff member.

How fast can I get approved to start taking virtual terminal payments?

Most virtual terminal applications are reviewed within a few business days once processing history, expected order volume, and business documentation are submitted, and card-not-present underwriting factors in from the start rather than surprising you after approval.

PCI-Compliant Card Entry
Recurring Billing & Invoicing
Fraud Controls for Keyed Payments
What You Need to Apply
FAQ

Virtual Terminal Payment Processing for Phone, Mail & Invoice Orders

Not every sale happens at a card reader. Phone orders, mailed-in payments, emailed invoices, and B2B purchase orders all need a way to accept a card that was never physically present. A virtual terminal gives your staff a secure, browser-based screen for keying in those payments, backed by the same tokenization, fraud screening, and reporting as your in-store or online checkout.

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Virtual terminal: a secure, browser-based application that lets staff key in a customer's card details to process phone, mail, or invoice payments without swiping or inserting a physical card.

PCI-Compliant Card Entry & Tokenized Billing

Every card number keyed into a CARDZ3N virtual terminal is tokenized at entry, so raw card data never touches your own servers or spreadsheets. That keeps your PCI DSS compliance scope small while still giving staff a fast, familiar screen for taking payment details over the phone, through the mail, or off a signed order form. Saved tokens can also be reused for a deposit, balance due, or future order without asking a returning customer to read their card number out loud again.

Card Not Present
A virtual terminal is a card-not-present channel, which means it carries a different fraud and interchange profile than a swiped or inserted transaction — the right underwriting and AVS/CVV controls matter more here, not less.

Recurring Billing, Invoicing & Multi-User Access

A virtual terminal is not limited to one-off phone sales. Save a card on file to bill an installment plan, a recurring subscription, or a balance due without re-keying details every cycle, or send a secure emailed invoice with a pay-by-link so the customer enters their own card. Give each staff member their own login with role-based permissions and an audit trail of who processed what, instead of sharing one generic account across a whole call center or billing office.

Fraud Controls for Manually Keyed Transactions

Because a virtual terminal never sees the physical card, it carries a higher baseline fraud risk than a swiped or dipped transaction, and mainstream processors often price or decline it accordingly. CARDZ3N pairs address verification (AVS) and CVV matching with velocity limits and manual-review thresholds tuned for keyed entry, so obviously fraudulent orders get caught without adding friction to a legitimate repeat customer reading their card number over the phone.

What You Need to Apply

A complete application moves faster through underwriting. Have the following ready:

✓
3-6 months of processing statements if switching from an existing processor
✓
Estimated monthly phone, mail, and invoice order volume and average ticket size
✓
Refund and cancellation policy covering phone, mail, and invoiced orders
✓
Business documentation: EIN, bank letter, and business license or registration
✓
A short description of how orders come in: call center script, mail-in form, or emailed invoice

Virtual Terminal Solutions for Phone, Mail & Invoice Payments

Who Uses a Virtual Terminal

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Virtual Terminal Payment Processing for Phone, Mail & Invoice Orders

PCI-Compliant Card Entry & Tokenized Billing

Recurring Billing, Invoicing & Multi-User Access

Fraud Controls for Manually Keyed Transactions

What You Need to Apply

Frequently Asked Questions

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