Though your customers may not be able to explain what a virtual terminal is, there’s a good chance they expect you as a business to accept payments with it. Whether you’re an online or brick-and-mortar operation (or both), a virtual terminal allows businesses to accept payments virtually anywhere, anytime.
Think of a virtual terminal as the digital equivalent of a physical point-of-sale (POS) system that you use to swipe cards. The difference is you don’t need specialized software or a card reader. Instead, virtual terminals let you accept payments wherever you have an internet connection, opening up the possibilities of where and how you can do business.
Read on to learn how your business can get started easily by accepting payments online with a virtual terminal.
Virtual terminals allow businesses to accept online and offline payments. In other words, virtual terminals can handle transactions made in person, over the phone, via fax or mail orders, and/or when the customer is not present.
How virtual terminals work is relatively simple: After a customer places an order, the business enters their card information and address details into the virtual terminal. Once the payment has been accepted and processed, the business gets paid, and the customer receives the product.
For example, with PayPal Virtual Terminal, merchants can enter a single transaction or multiple transactions with the corresponding customer details and billing information. After the merchant submits the payment, PayPal processes the transaction. If the payment is successful, the merchant is immediately credited for the amount paid. Learn how to use PayPal Virtual Terminal.
There are many reasons why businesses use virtual terminals. Here are some of the most popular:
Many businesses can take advantage of using a virtual terminal, including merchants like:
Wondering how a customer’s credit card is protected when using a virtual terminal? Simple: Virtual terminals verify a customer’s credit card and billing address to prevent credit card fraud. To process a transaction, businesses need to collect the cardholder’s name, credit card number, expiration date, CVV or security code, and billing address.
Ready to accept payments anywhere, anytime? Learn more about PayPal Virtual Terminal and the fees involved.
In partnership with three expert business owners, the PayPal Bootcamp includes practical checklists and a short video loaded with tips to help take your business to the next level.
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