Manually Enter Card Payments Without a Square Reader
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Download the Square Point of Sale app free today, directly on your phone or tablet.
If your customer or a payment card isn’t present, or your reader is not working, you can manually enter your customer’s card details on a supported mobile device, use the Virtual Terminal or send an invoice from your online Square Dashboard or mobile device.
How Much Does Square Charge for Manual Entry?
For payments manually keyed in to the Point of Sale app, Checkout links with recurring payments, Square Invoices and Virtual Terminal, Square’s fee is 2.5% per transaction.
For payments accepted via our online payment products, the per transaction fee is 1.4% + 25p for UK cards and 2.5% + 25p for non-UK cards. This includes payments accepted through Square eCommerce APIs, Online Store, Online Checkout Links (non-recurring) and Digital Gift Card purchases.
Learn more about Square fees and how processing fees are calculated.
Steps to Manually Enter Payments From Your Square App
From the navigation bar at the bottom of your screen, tap More > Settings > Checkout > Payment Types.
Toggle on Manual Card Entry.
Bring up a transaction by adding items or entering custom amounts using the keypad. Change the quantity, add a note or remove an item by tapping it within your basket or ‘Current Sale’.
Tap Charge. Note: If you’re using a mobile device, or your tablet is being used in portrait mode (vertically), tap Review Sale > Charge.
Tap Manual Card Entry > enter the card number, expiration date, security code and the customer’s postcode.
Tap Charge. If you want to cancel the payment, tap the arrow in the upper-left corner to return to the previous screen.
After selecting Charge, enter your customer’s preferred receipt delivery method.
Tap New Sale to take another payment.
Take a Payment with Virtual Terminal
You can process payments from your computer with Virtual Terminal:
To manually enter a payment using a computer:
Log into your online Square Dashboard using a supported browser.
Navigate to Virtual Terminal > Take a Payment.
Select Quick Charge to charge your customer a single pound amount or Itemised Sale to add an item, modifier, discount and tax to the sale.
Add an optional note to the sale.
Under Payment Method, select Manually Enter Card.
Enter the card details provided by your customer.
Click Charge.
Once you see Payment Successful, you are all set and you can view your payment in your Dashboard Sales Report.
Learn more about accepting payments with Virtual Terminal.
Required Information for Manual Entry
We require all of the following information for transactions entered manually:
Complete card number
Expiry date
Security code/CVV
Postcode (for cards issued in the United States, Canada or United Kingdom)
If any piece of information is entered incorrectly, the card will be declined. If the card numbers entered turn red, review Square’s payment troubleshooting.
Learn how merchants protect themselves from fraud and chargebacks with safety tips for manually entered transactions.