Keyed-In Card Payments: What to Check

What counts as card not present

A payment is card present when the card or phone is at the terminal: tapped, inserted or swiped. It is card not present when the card details are typed in, whether by a customer on a website or by your staff taking a number over the phone. A card number keyed into the terminal while the customer stands at the counter is often still handled as a keyed transaction rather than a chip or tap transaction, so how the card is entered matters, not only where the customer is.

Why it usually costs more

Visa's published interchange schedule lists separate programs for card-present and card-not-present sales, and the card-not-present programs generally carry higher rates for the same type of card. On tiered pricing, keyed-in payments often land in a higher tier as well. The exact difference depends on the card type, your business type and your pricing model, so check your own statement rather than relying on a general figure.

Step 1: Measure your mix

Find how many of your transactions, and how much of your volume, are keyed in or online. Your processor's reporting or your POS can usually split sales by entry method. On an interchange-plus statement, look for card-not-present or e-commerce programs in the interchange detail. On a tiered statement, look at how much volume lands in mid-qualified and non-qualified. Do this for a couple of months so one unusual week does not distort the picture.

Step 2: Move avoidable keyed payments to the terminal

The easiest savings are payments that did not need to be keyed in. A customer reading out a card number at the counter can tap or insert instead. Staff who key in a card because the chip reader is slow or a terminal is out of reach need a working, reachable terminal. For phone orders that will be collected in person, consider taking payment at pickup. For invoices and deposits, a secure payment link lets the customer enter their own details, which removes the need for staff to handle card numbers at all, though it is still a card-not-present payment.

Step 3: Protect the payments you still key in

Some payments will always be card not present. For those, send the full information the networks ask for. Address verification compares the billing address with the card issuer's records, and the card security code shows the customer had the card in hand. Both help with fraud screening and can affect which interchange program a sale qualifies for. Settle batches promptly, since late settlement can also move a sale to a higher rate. If you run online checkout, ask whether your gateway supports 3-D Secure for added authentication.

Step 4: Check the gateway

Online and invoice payments usually run through a payment gateway, which may charge its own monthly and per-transaction fees on top of processing. These are sometimes billed by a separate company, so look at your other invoices and bank debits as well as the processing statement.

What changes for multi-location and enterprise operations

In larger operations, keyed entry often concentrates in specific places: a call centre, a central billing team, a branch with an old terminal, or a sales team taking deposits by phone. Measure the keyed share by location and by team rather than for the business as a whole. Standardise how phone and invoice payments are taken, through one gateway and one payment link process, so address verification and security codes are always collected. For business-to-business sales, ask whether Level 2 or Level 3 data is supported on keyed and invoice payments.