6 Best Virtual Terminals for Small Business 2019

A virtual terminal lets store owners manually key in credit card numbers when they receive phone or invoice orders. Secure virtual terminals are available from almost any payment processor, and they require no special equipment. Transaction fees are higher than in-person transactions, though: It’s usually 2.9% plus 15 to 30 cents per transaction.

Top 6 Best Virtual Terminals 2019

How We Evaluated Virtual Terminals

Virtual terminals are accessible through a payment processor’s website or mobile app—it’s just one way you can accept credit cards. Merchant service providers have recently begun offering affordable and easy options for small businesses, which means more providers are doing away with long contracts, hefty termination fees, and strict requirements. We considered the ease of attaining an account and use of each virtual terminal, the fees you’ll pay per transaction, and the features you get in addition to payment processing.

We chose the best virtual terminals based on the criteria below:

• Pricing: Fee structures vary for virtual terminals, so we calculated the fees for each to find the best one for different types of businesses.
• Features: While some of the virtual terminals on our list are simply payment processors, others offer a toolbox of features to help you manage your business.
• Ease of Use: We considered how simple it is to set up each virtual terminal, process payments, and get paid from your processor.
• Pros and Cons: We looked at the pros and cons of choosing one virtual terminal over another, and how those aspects could affect your business’ bottom line.
• User Reviews: We also considered how current and past users felt about each payment processor’s virtual terminal, rates, and service.

Square is our pick for the best virtual terminal because it’s easy to use, has no setup or monthly fees, and it includes several useful features that you would have to pay for elsewhere. It’s an all-in-one solution that makes sense for many small businesses that need to occasionally take a phone or invoice order.

Square: Best Overall Virtual Terminal for Small Businesses

The Square virtual terminal is just one feature included with your free account. It’s the best virtual terminal for new businesses, as there’s no application for a merchant account and you can accept payments immediately, but its cost is higher than some other options. There are bonus point-of-sale (POS) features, like inventory and customer management.

Square Pricing

Pricing for the Square virtual terminal is higher than many other options at a flat-rate fee of 3.5% plus 15 cents per transaction, but the added features make it the best overall value. In many cases, Dharma is much more affordable, but Square is still cheaper than PayPal Payments Pro and Shopify POS because of the no monthly fee.

Ideally, you’ll only accept phone or invoice orders that require manual keying in of credit cards occasionally. The good news is you won’t pay any monthly, startup, or cancellation fees. The chart below shows how much you can expect to pay for Square’s virtual terminal transactions in a few situations.

Square Virtual Terminal Fees

Note: Square has recently changed its flat-rate fee of 2.75% to 2.6% + 10 cents per transaction. We will update the pricing and our ranking of providers in the next update of this article.

Square Features

Square offers its customer base a strong set of features to help with business management. In fact, when you sign up for the Square virtual terminal, you also get a free magstripe card reader, which you can use to accept in-person credit card payments. The reporting function lets you see sales trends in your business, and you can manage your inventory of products from the Square dashboard.

Accept In-Person Cards with Square

In addition to using a virtual terminal, you can use the free magstripe card reader to accept in-person credit cards. The rate for in-person transactions is 2.6% + 10 cents per transaction. If you want to accept chip or contactless credit cards, you’ll have to purchase that card reader.

Square Reporting

On the dashboard where you find the Square virtual terminal is a reporting section where you can view sales history, deposits, and invoices. You can run reports to see which of your products are doing well, which are low in stock, and even compare new to returning customers. All this data can help you figure out what the next best move is for your business.

Manage Inventory with Square

Another important POS feature Square offers is inventory. You can upload spreadsheets to handle bulk imports of products easily, or add products one by one. Set the price, name, and stock level, and get a daily report of what’s running low sent to your email. The low-stock alert feature isn’t unique to Square, but PayPal Payments Pro and Shopify POS don’t offer it.

What Square Is Missing

If you’re using Square’s virtual terminal occasionally, it’s a good choice because pricing is clear and upfront, plus you don’t need a merchant account. However, it’s one of the priciest options on our list because of its flat-rate fee, which pays for the added POS features you get.

Square Reviews

You’ll find Square reviews that are full of praise and exclamation marks from most users because Square is so easy to use, and it doesn’t charge fees to get started. However, there are some negative reviews regarding customer service and chargeback issues.

Dharma: Best Virtual Terminal for Established Businesses

Dharma is a merchant services provider that offers a virtual terminal through an app. It’s an ideal solution for established businesses processing more than $10,000 monthly that can get a merchant account. Dharma’s virtual terminal rates are the lowest of all featured on our list because of its interchange-plus pricing, rather than flat-rate fees.

Dharma Pricing

Dharma uses an interchange-plus pricing model, so you pay the actual cost for a credit card charge plus a small fee to Dharma. Per transaction you pay .20% plus 10 cents for most credit cards (Dharma charges .25% on American Express charges). Dharma also charges a $20 monthly fee.

An established business that expects to process more than $10,000 per month in credit cards would pay significantly less than using Square or any other all-in-one payment processor. To get an idea of how much you would pay per month, check the chart below.

Dharma Virtual Terminal Fees

*Example assumes Visa CPS; American Express, Mastercard, and rewards cards come with higher fees from the cards

Dharma Features

While Dharma doesn’t offer features itself, it does partner with MX Merchant, a free tool that includes a variety of features beyond the virtual terminal. You’ll be able to track customers in a database, run reports to analyze sales data, and you can purchase a mobile credit card reader to use for in-person transactions.

Dharma’s Customer Database

The web app you use to access Dharma’s virtual terminal in MX Merchant also offers a customer database where you can store information for your customers, including credit card information, similar to Square. Transaction history is also saved for each customer, so you can find past charges for refunds or to answer questions. There are also custom fields you can create, in addition to a notes section, so you can track each customer’s preferences, birthdays, or any other information.

Custom Receipts with Dharma

Create receipts in the web app with your business’ name and logo. You can send an email or text receipt to your customer after each payment, whether it’s a keyed-in payment or a card-present transaction.

Dharma Reporting

In a way, you can create custom reports with MX Merchant, but parameters are set. You can view sales, refunds, authorizations, type of tender, status of transaction, date, and more. It’s easy to use, as you simply check the boxes for each parameter in the reporting section, press the apply button, and you’ll have your report. It isn’t as robust of a reporting feature as Shopify or Square, though.

What Dharma Is Missing

As far as Dharma’s MX Merchant web app goes, it’s missing at least one necessary feature for any business, and that’s an inventory function. Dharma integrates with most POS systems, though, so there are solutions available. Also, Dharma does not offer a good solution for new businesses that don’t have sales history, business credit history, or that are making low total sales per month.

Dharma Reviews

The majority of Dharma reviews are positive because of the low rates and good customer support. Many customers say they’re saving money with Dharma, and that customer support representatives genuinely seem to want to help. The issues, though, are that customer support isn’t available at hours businesses generally need, and the lack of native POS features.

Shopify POS: Best Virtual Terminal for Ecommerce Businesses

Shopify is an all-in-one processor that lets you accept payments through a virtual terminal, using a card reader, or an online store (which comes with a Shopify account—a great choice for ecommerce businesses). You can email invoices or take orders by phone for customers. Plus, Shopify includes POS features for managing your business.

Shopify POS Pricing

Shopify uses the same flat-fee rate as Square, but its numbers are slightly different. You’ll pay a lower percentage at 2.9%, but a higher per-transaction added fee of 30 cents. Plus, you’ll have to sign up for an account that ranges from $9 to $299 per month. However, the Basic Shopify plan provides the most comparable features to Square and other competitors on our list, so in the example below, we’re assuming you’ve chosen the $29 per month plan.

Shopify POS Virtual Terminal Fees

Shopify POS Features

At its base, Shopify is a POS solution that also serves as a payment processor, so you can handle all your business management in one place. The virtual terminal comes with every plan level in Shopify Admin, the web app, but if you choose the Basic Shopify plan, you’ll also get an online store, inventory management, and reporting functions.

Shopify’s Online Store

There’s no need to have a separate ecommerce website and store, like with PayPal Payments Pro, so this is a more plug-and-play approach. You can set up your store to accept credit card payments online, which is the same flat rate as phone orders. Plus, you’ll have a place to display your products and show off your branding for your business. Designing your store and site is easy with Shopify, too, so you don’t need to have advanced skills.

Inventory Management in Shopify

Shopify has an edge over Square with its inventory system, as you have much more control over the information you can add for each product, and you can organize groups of products according to size, price, sale, etc. Plus, your inventory is connected to all payments, so it will reflect changes, even when you use the virtual terminal. If you need more complex inventory control, you can likely find an app to integrate with your Shopify account.

Shopify Reporting

Regardless of which plan you choose, Shopify gives you access to a dashboard of analytics. You can see your total sales, average order amount, number of orders, and through which sales channel most of your orders are processed, similar to Square. Each plan level gives you a variety of reports to help you make the best business decisions based on customer behavior, marketing success, and types of customers (returning versus new) you’re getting.

What Shopify POS Is Missing

The flat-rate fee may make it easy to predict what your monthly fees will be with Shopify POS, but you won’t likely save any money. As a virtual terminal, Shopify’s pricing is a bit on the expensive side, especially for $10 to $20 tickets, and if you opt for a different payment processor, you’ll end up having to pay Shopify 0.5% to 2% per transaction.

Shopify POS Reviews

Overall, Shopify reviews from users are excellent. The ease of use, built-in business management tools, and easy access to customer support are often mentioned in positive reviews. However, many users are also frustrated with the high cost of processing fees and the monthly plans.

QuickBooks Payments: Best Virtual Terminal for QuickBooks Users

QuickBooks Payments includes a virtual terminal that lets you accept payment through invoices or over the phone, and it doesn’t charge a monthly fee if you’re already using QuickBooks Online. Its flat-rate fee pricing structure is similar to Square, but it includes a seamless integration with QuickBooks, so reconciliations and books are automatically updated.

QuickBooks Payments Pricing

Although there is no monthly fee for the QuickBooks Payments virtual terminal, you will need a QuickBooks Online account, which starts at $20 per month. The flat-rate fee for online, invoice, and keyed-in transactions is 3.4% plus 25 cents for each payment, which is slightly more expensive than Square, but slightly less expensive than the PayPal virtual terminal.

QuickBooks Payments Virtual Terminal Fees

QuickBooks Payments Features

Technically, the only features you get with QuickBooks Payments is the ability to send an invoice where a customer can enter credit card details for payment, or you can take phone orders and key in a transaction. However, you must have a QuickBooks Online account to be able to use the QuickBooks virtual terminal, and that comes with useful features, such as sales and expenses tracking, basic reporting, and automated linking of payments with your bookkeeping.

Automated Reconciliations in QuickBooks

As you accept payments from customers, whether by phone or emailed invoice through QuickBooks Payments, your books will automatically update when you’re paid. It’s a time-saving feature that lets you focus on managing your business, rather than reconciling every payment that comes into your bank account. No other option on our list includes this feature, unless you add on the QuickBooks integration.

QuickBooks Reporting

Like other web apps with virtual terminals, QuickBooks Online comes with a reporting feature, but because this is packaged with QuickBooks, the reports are more focused on profits, expenses, and balances. You can also run reports on taxes and sales. For more advanced reporting, you’ll have to subscribe to the Plus plan, which is $60 per month.

Customer Communication in QuickBooks

A useful feature in QuickBooks Payments is the ability to communicate with customers through the invoice you send them, where they’ll pay using your virtual terminal. If a client has a question about an invoice, they can ask that question in a box on the invoice, and you’ll see it in your inbox. It streamlines the process for the customer, making it much easier for them.

What QuickBooks Payments Is Missing

As a virtual terminal, QuickBooks Payments isn’t missing anything, but you can’t use it on its own. You must sign up for a QuickBooks Online account, which isn’t a point-of-sale solution, but rather an accounting one. Also, QuickBooks Payments is one of the most expensive options on our list.

QuickBooks Payments Reviews

It’s clear when reading QuickBooks Payments reviews online that users prefer it to other virtual terminals because of the direct integration with QuickBooks Online. It’s simply easier for both the user and the customer. Some complaints point to customer support and the long wait times, while others take issue with having to subscribe to a QuickBooks Online plan to use the virtual terminal.

PayPal Payments Pro: Best Virtual Terminal for Manual Payments

PayPal Payments Pro is a payment processing solution including a virtual terminal that allows you to key in manual credit card payments. Subscribers are able to add PayPal as a payments option on their websites, too. It’s pricey, but a good choice if you’re accepting fewer phone orders totaling more than $100 each.

PayPal Payments Pro Pricing

The cost of having a PayPal virtual terminal can be steep compared to other options, but it might work well if you process large phone orders occasionally each month. You’ll have to pay $30 per month for the plan, and the flat-fee rate is 3.1% plus 30 cents per transaction, which costs more than a Square virtual terminal, especially with high-volume, low-ticket orders.

PayPal Payments Pro Virtual Terminal Fees

PayPal Payments Pro Features

The Pro plan gets you a bit more than just the PayPal virtual terminal. In fact, you’ll be able to feature PayPal as a payment method on your ecommerce website, you’ll have a chance to earn back some of your fees, and you can get access to funds within one day.

PayPal on Your Page

Anyone can put a PayPal button on their ecommerce website, but Pro plan users can integrate it in their site, so customers won’t be redirected to PayPal to make a payment. The benefit of this integration is that it’s easier for customers to pay, and you’re less likely to lose customers who miss a pop-up or don’t want to login from another window.

Debit Card from PayPal

Unlike other companies that offer a virtual terminal, PayPal offers its branded debit card, which you can use like any other debit card, but it’s connected to your PayPal account, rather than a bank account. Some purchases allow you to earn 1% cash back, which can help you recover the fees you pay using the PayPal virtual terminal.

PayPal’s Quick Deposits

When a customer pays you through PayPal, funds are typically available in your PayPal account almost immediately. You can then spend it anywhere else that also accepts PayPal. Transfers to your bank account, though, usually take one to two days. Alternatively, you could opt for an instant transfer, which will cost you 1% of the transfer amount.

What PayPal Payments Pro Is Missing

Given that competitors, like Square, offer a virtual terminal at no monthly cost, the $30 monthly price tag just to use the PayPal virtual terminal seems exorbitant. Pair that with high transaction fees, and you’re looking at a pricey solution.

PayPal Payments Pro Reviews

The PayPal Payments Pro reviews are focused on both positive and negative qualities. For one, PayPal is a household name—almost everyone has a PayPal account. You can receive payments easily from international customers, and funds are available quickly. However, the biggest, most consistent complaint is how PayPal handles chargebacks. The company often sides with the customer, despite a merchant offering plenty of proof that a good effort was made to get an item to a customer.

Payline Connect: Best Virtual Terminal for Small Businesses with Low Monthly Sales

Payline is a traditional merchant services provider with a virtual terminal for businesses that process payments online, by phone, and by mail. It’s an affordable option for small businesses that might not process more than $10,000 in monthly sales. Similar to competitors on this list, the Payline virtual terminal comes with no long-term contract.

Payline Connect Pricing

Payline offers a variety of pricing options, depending on your needs. It follows the interchange-plus pricing model, similar to Dharma, which means you’ll pay low rates for each transaction. For the Payline virtual terminal, you’ll choose Payline Connect, which also lets you accept payments online. The rate is interchange, 0.3% plus 20 cents per transaction. There’s also a $20 monthly fee, half of which covers PCI compliance and the payment gateway.

Payline Connect Virtual Terminal Fees

Payline Connect Features

A company like Payline is focused more on the payment service rather than POS features, like you can find with Square or PayPal. Therefore, you won’t find many features with the Payline virtual terminal, at least not in same vein. You will find Payline’s contracts are not typical of a merchant service provider, and support is praised by many users.

Payline’s Contracts

Technically, you will have a contract with Payline, but it is month to month. You can cancel at any time, and you won’t pay any early termination fees. There is some fine print you should read carefully, though, when you sign up for a Payline virtual terminal. You must meet a $25 minimum, but this is fairer than other merchant service providers.

Support from Payline

Like Square, Payline’s phone customer support is limited to business hours and weekdays. For Payline, that means Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST. Any other time of day or night, or on weekends, you’ll have to submit a ticket, but they’re often quick to respond.

What Payline Connect Is Missing

When you sign up for a Payline virtual terminal, you’re getting access to a secure and PCI-compliant payment gateway, but that’s about it. You won’t get the business management tools that come with Square and Dharma. Some fees from Payline seem hidden, but they’re there if you look. You’ll be charged a $25 fee if you lose a chargeback dispute, and $19.95 if you do not finish a PCI compliance survey within three months.

Payline Connect Reviews

In Payline reviews, there are many users who are happy with the service and the rates that Payline charges. Others have noted how dated Payline’s payment gateway looks. Also, there have been complaints about unexpected fees, but these were usually for chargebacks and not completing a PCI compliance survey.

Bottom Line

A virtual terminal can bridge the gap between online and in-person payments, so you can take orders and payments by phone, fax, and mail. Typically, keyed-in payments are pricier than card-present transactions, but the services we included on our list have low, fair fees, or offer plenty of features to make the cost worth it.

Square includes a virtual terminal with every free account. You also get helpful features for tracking customers, inventory, and more. Users are only charged a flat-rate fee per transaction, and you won’t have to apply for a traditional merchant account, which makes this the best virtual terminal for new small businesses. Open a free account today.

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