Virtual Terminal Payment Processing for Card-Not-Present Sales
Key in a card payment from any browser — no reader, no new hardware, no new merchant account. Midcove's virtual terminal payment processing screen gives your team a fast, secure way to run phone orders, mail orders, and manual invoices on the MID you already have with NMI, Authorize.Net, Stripe, or PayPal.
No card reader. No new hardware. Just a secure screen.
Not every sale happens at a checkout page. When a customer calls in an order, mails a form, or asks you to charge the card they used last month, your team needs a virtual terminal for merchants — a way to key in the card by hand, securely, without leaving the gateway you already use.
Midcove adds that screen on top of your existing merchant account. Because every keyed sale processes through the gateway where you're already boarded, there is no re-underwriting and no second MID to reconcile — most merchants key in their first transaction the same day they connect.
- Built for MOTO payments — mail order and telephone order — plus invoice follow-ups and card-on-file updates.
- AVS and CVV checks run automatically on every keyed transaction.
- Runs on the merchant account you already have with NMI, Authorize.Net, Stripe, or PayPal.
- Role-based access decides which team members can key in, void, or refund a sale.
Built for call centers and back offices
- Agents key in card details while the customer is still on the phone.
- Back-office staff process mailed-in order forms and manual invoices.
- Billing teams update a card on file for a subscription in seconds.
- Every keyed sale lands in the same history as your online payments.
Where key-in card payments earn their keep
If the card isn't present, the virtual terminal is the tool for the job.
Phone order payments
A customer calls to place an order or pay a balance. Your agent keys in the card, sees the result instantly, and confirms the sale before the call ends.
Mail orders
Order forms that arrive with card details are processed as MOTO payments, with AVS matching the billing address the customer wrote down.
Invoice follow-ups
Chase an unpaid invoice by phone and collect on the spot instead of waiting for a link to be clicked — the payment posts straight to your records.
Track every keyed saleCard-on-file updates
Swap an expired card for an active subscriber or recurring customer without interrupting the billing cycle.
Deposits and balances
Take a deposit up front by phone, then key in the balance when the work is done — both logged against the same customer.
B2B and wholesale orders
Account managers key in large card-not-present orders for trade customers who never touch your online checkout.
AVS and CVV checks on every keyed payment
Card-not-present sales carry more risk than swiped ones, so the terminal verifies each transaction before it settles. AVS (Address Verification Service) compares the billing address your agent enters against the address the card issuer has on file; the CVV check confirms the caller is holding the physical card, not just a copied number.
Both results come back with the authorization, so your team can spot a mismatch and re-confirm details while the customer is still on the line. Behind the screen, the same rules engine as our payment fraud prevention software screens keyed entries too — block transactions by IP, email, phone number, or card BIN, and repeated failed attempts trigger an automatic 24-hour lockout.
The terminal runs over an encrypted connection and is built to align with PCI DSS requirements: card data is tokenized and encrypted in transit and at rest, and raw card numbers never sit outside your gateway's environment. Read more about our approach to PCI DSS compliance and security.
Layers behind every keyed sale
- AVS response returned with every authorization.
- CVV verification on each keyed card.
- IP, email, phone, and BIN block lists applied to terminal entries.
- Automatic 24-hour lockout after repeated failed attempts.
- Tokenized card data, encrypted in transit and at rest.
One terminal across all four connected gateways
Connect the merchant account you already have through Midcove's payment gateway integrations and every keyed sale routes to the right processor automatically.
NMI
Keyed sales process through your NMI account with full AVS and CVV response codes on every authorization.
NMI integrationAuthorize.Net
Use your existing Authorize.Net credentials — phone and mail orders settle to the same account as your web sales.
Authorize.Net integrationStripe
Key in card-not-present payments against your Stripe account and manage them beside every other channel.
Stripe integrationPayPal
Process manual card payments on your PayPal merchant account without a separate terminal product.
PayPal integrationFrom keyed entry to approval in three steps
The workflow is the same whichever gateway sits behind the screen.
Open the terminal
Log in from any browser and choose the merchant account to process on. Teams using multi-gateway payment processing pick the MID per transaction.
Key in the payment
Enter the amount, card number, and billing details. AVS and CVV verification runs automatically as part of the authorization.
Get an instant result
See the approval or decline immediately, with the response codes, and the transaction is logged to your history.
Every keyed sale lands in the same dashboard
A virtual terminal is only half the job — you also need to find that transaction next week. Every keyed payment posts to Midcove's transaction management dashboard alongside your online sales, where you can search by amount, date, card, or customer and sort results in a click.
Need to reverse a sale? Void it before settlement or send the money back through refund management, straight from the transaction record — no separate gateway login, and the same permissions and audit trail as the rest of the platform.
Month-end exports and summaries come from the same data, so keyed phone and mail payments never end up in a side spreadsheet.
What your team sees
- Full history of sales, voids, and refunds — searchable and sortable.
- AVS and CVV responses stored with each keyed transaction.
- Role-based access — cashiers key in, managers void and refund.
- Exports ready for reconciliation and month-end reporting.
Virtual Terminal Payment Processing Questions, Answered
What is virtual terminal payment processing?
It's taking card payments through a secure web screen where your staff key in the customer's card details manually — no physical card reader. It's built for phone orders, mail orders, and other card-not-present payments, and Midcove's terminal runs on the merchant account you already have.
Can I use the virtual terminal for phone orders?
Yes. The terminal is designed for MOTO (mail order/telephone order) use, so agents can enter card details while the customer is on the call and see the approval or decline before hanging up.
Which payment gateways does it work with?
Midcove's virtual terminal works with the MID you already have boarded through NMI, Authorize.Net, Stripe, or PayPal. There is no need to open a new merchant account and no re-underwriting.
What are AVS and CVV checks?
AVS (Address Verification Service) compares the billing address your agent enters with the address the card issuer has on file. The CVV check verifies the card's security code. Both run automatically on every keyed transaction and the results come back with the authorization.
Is the virtual terminal PCI compliant?
The terminal is built to align with PCI DSS requirements. It runs over an encrypted connection, card data is tokenized, and raw card numbers are never stored outside your gateway's environment.
Do I need a card reader or any other hardware?
No. The virtual terminal works from any modern browser on a desktop, laptop, or tablet. There is no card reader, terminal hardware, or software install required.
Can I void or refund a keyed transaction?
Yes. Void a keyed sale before it settles or refund it afterward, directly from the transaction record in the dashboard — no separate gateway login required.
Who on my team can use the virtual terminal?
That's up to you. Role-based access controls let you decide which users can key in payments, which can issue voids and refunds, and which can only view transaction history.
How quickly can I start keying in payments?
Most merchants go live the same day. You connect your existing gateway credentials rather than applying for a new merchant account, so there is no new underwriting to wait on.
Does it support multiple MIDs or gateways?
Yes. You can choose which MID a transaction processes on at the point of entry, and higher plan tiers support connecting multiple gateways under one login.
Start keying in payments today
One secure screen for every phone, mail, and manual card payment — on the MID you already have.