Accept card payments over the phone
Is your business equipped to take over the phone payments? If it isn’t, you could be missing out on all-important customer sales. A successful business requires fuss-free payments both online and in person but what if your customers want to make a card payment over the phone? Dojo makes accepting card payments over the phone a breeze for both you and your customers. Read our handy step-by-step guide on how to take card payments over the phone, the tools you need and the key information you require.
How to Take a Card Payment Over the Phone
In order for your small business to accept card payments over the phone or by card machine you’ll need to open a merchant account. Fortunately, if you sign up for any card machine with Dojo we set this up for you. You’ll also need a virtual terminal but we’ll cover that in more detail below.
If you’re already set up with a card machine, you can receive customer payments over the phone in four simple steps:
- Liaise with your customer
Your customer is on the phone with their debit card in hand ready to make a payment. What next? - Log in to your virtual terminal
You can do this via a computer or your phone. - Input customer details
Take the essential information required to make the payment from your customer. This includes the customer's email address and billing address. - Complete the sale
Double-check the customer details before you hit complete.
That’s it! Customer payments in just a few clicks.
What equipment is needed to take Card Payments over the phone?
Your business is just steps away from being able to process phone payments. To be able to take card payments over the phone, you will need a telephone, a WIFI connection and a virtual terminal.
What is a Virtual Terminal?
A virtual terminal is a key component when it comes to facilitating card payments over the phone. This secure webpage is accessible from a computer or a phone and allows you to take secure customer payments without the need for them to be present on your business premises.
To maximise profits, it is essential that you remove any roadblocks between you and customer payments and make the process quick and easy. Manage card payments over the phone like a pro with Dojo and open a merchant account today.
Read our blog for more business success tips.
FAQs
Virtual terminals are fairly inexpensive to operate and most come with a monthly fee that is tailored to your business. Dojo’s virtual terminal is free to use when you sign up for a card machine but each transaction has +0.5% on top of the face-to-face rate. There is also a secure transaction fee that will cost £0.05 for every payment you process. These fees are in place to help protect your transactions from potential fraud. In order to take card payments over the phone, you must open a merchant account first - a merchant account is free with Dojo when you sign up for a card machine.
Yes, with a virtual terminal, you can accept payments made with both debit cards and credit cards. All major credit and debit cards are accepted.
There are certain rules and regulations attached to taking payments over the phone for small business owners. These regulations prevent credit card fraud and keep you and your customers safe. If you sign up to a Dojo card machine, we cover this for you, but be sure to read our guide on PCI DSS compliance before you begin to take customer payments over the phone.
Yes, the virtual terminal uses our secure hosted webpage, using HTTP over SSL (https), to collect customer card details. You and your staff should remember to key card details directly into the terminal and make sure no sensitive information is read back verbally if accepting payment in a public environment, to ensure you’re not overhead by a third party.
