Customer Sent Credit Card Info by Phone, How do I charge?

[jrbapna]

Up till now, all of my customers have ordered completely online. However, one customer recently refused to use the website (she's quite old and apparently just hates using the web) and insisted on giving us the payment information directly by phone.

How can we charge this customer through paypal? We do not have any other payment gateway set up in order to charge credit cards...

[skier]

Unfortunately you cannot use this information unless you have Virtual Terminal.

Virtual Terminal is needed because you cannot simply use your regular PayPal Account to process the transactions. Here's why. Your PayPal Account is only setup for you to use in a specific way. If you would try to use it to process purchases yourself, it will cause issues. PayPal looks at the IP Address of the computer and Mac Address of the your network adapter. Lets say that you have ten transactions, all using different credit cards.  PayPal will see that unique IP Address and/or Mac Address and note that each time a different credit card has been used to pay for a transaction. Because of PayPal's Fraud Security, this activity will appear suspicious. It will be viewed as some sort fraud attempt which in turn will set off some red flags. And there's a good chance that your Account will be frozen and/or locked. This is by design and why Virtual Terminal was created.  Note, you may be able to get away with a one time deal with no issues but, if done couple of times, most likely your account will be frozen. 

People are funny, they won't use the internet to make a purchase but, have no problem giving all their information away to someone on the other end of the phone.

Regards,

skier

[jrbapna]

Thanks for your help.

Yes these customers are truly far out there. As I understand it, there will be $30 monthly charge to use Virtual Terminal along with the usual paypal percentage fees per transaction.

I suppose I can try and get away with it this one time, but is there any long term, cheaper alternative to processing these customers who simply refuse to use the web?

[skier]

Virtual Terminal does cost $30 per month plus the transaction fees.

Regardless if you're going to use a PayPal product or another Merchant Account, you will end up with a monthly fee plus individual transaction fees.   Unfortunately there's no free rides out there.   Also be aware of the credit card companies rules for collecting and storing credit card information as now you're getting into new territory.

On a personal note, you may want to look into a separate Merchant Account and a wireless or wired card processor. Over the years we have tried various methods for processing credit card transactions on site. We do a lot of shows and outdoor events. Most methods we tried were slow and/or cumbersome. Customers want and expect paying by credit card to be a simple solution and fast, they don't to wait. Our solution was a separate Merchant Account with our local bank and we use a wireless credit card machine. This system allows us instant transaction authorization on site. No more hoping that every card is valid when you go home to do your batch processing in the evening. It only takes one bad credit card to ruin your event.

Check out some of your local banks and see what they offer in the line of Merchant Accounts. Then compare the costs, service and support they offer. We do use PayPal for processing transactions on our web site however, for transactions in person, we use our separate Merchant Account and our wireless credit card machine. This system is easier to use than Virtual Terminal, costs slightly less per month and the support our bank provides is great.

Regards,

skier