Manually enter card payments with Square
About manually entered card payments
If a customer’s payment card isn’t physically present during a transaction, you can manually enter your customer's card information with Square apps or Square Virtual Terminal.
Before you begin
To manually enter a card payment, ensure you have the complete card number, expiration date, security code/CVV, and the billing postal code.
If any part of the payment card information is entered incorrectly, the card will be declined.
It’s not possible to manually enter card payments while processing offline payments.
Learn how to accept card payments safely and prevent payment disputes.
Manually enter card payments
Ensure you’ve enabled manual card entry for Square apps by tapping ☰ More > Settings > Checkout > Payment and drag Manual Card Entry to Main payment types.
- While completing a transaction, tap Charge to start processing the payment.
- Tap Manual Card Entry to enter the customer’s card number, expiration date, security code, and billing postal code.
- Tap Charge to finish processing the payment.
To enable manual card entry for Square Virtual Terminal:
- Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Payments > Virtual Terminal > Settings > Checkout
- Toggle on Manually Enter Card.
- Click Save.
- While completing a transaction, select Manually enter card to enter the customer’s card number, expiration date, security code, and billing postal code.
- Click Charge to process the payment.
Alternatives to manually entered card payments
Manually entered card payments have higher processing fees and higher risks for fraud. Square offers more secure methods of taking payments. The options below have lower processing fees and are available on all Square accounts.
If your customer can pay in-person, you can use Square hardware or your compatible iPhone or Android device’s Tap to Pay feature.
- Accept chip cards (EMV), contactless cards (NFC), and mobile wallet payments (Apple Pay and Google Pay) with Square hardware, such as the Square Reader for contactless and chip.
- If you do not have Square hardware, you can use Tap to Pay on iPhone or Tap to Pay on Android to accept contactless cards (NFC) and mobile wallet payments (Apple Pay and Google Pay).
If your customer can’t pay in-person, you can send a payment link or a Square invoice to accept the following payments: Debit or credit card, including digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay, Cash App Pay, ACH bank transfer, Afterpay, and Square Gift Cards (physical or electronic).
- Payment links can be created from your Square Dashboard or Square POS app. You can send payment links to individual customers via text or email, share payment links online for multiple customers to use, or create a multi-use QR code for your customers to scan and pay with their mobile phones.
- With Square Invoices, you can request payments for goods or services by sending an unlimited number of digital invoices, estimates, or recurring invoices that you can send via text or email. You can schedule the initial deposit and split the remaining balance into multiple payments.