Virtual Terminal UK
Take Card Payments Over the Phone
Key a card payment straight into your browser — no card machine, no website, no integration. Built for phone and mail orders, deposits and back-office collections.
What a Virtual Terminal actually is
A Virtual Terminal turns any browser into a card machine. You sign in to the Monek Portal, type in the amount and the customer's card details, and take the payment — the same authorisation, the same settlement and the same reporting as a physical terminal, without the terminal.
It is a MOTO channel: Mail Order / Telephone Order. The card is not present and the cardholder is not in front of you, so the transaction is priced and risk-assessed as card-not-present rather than as a chip & PIN sale.
If you would rather the customer entered their own card details — which keeps card data out of your call entirely — Pay by Link does the same job with a one-time link sent by email or SMS.
Where UK merchants use the Virtual Terminal
Anywhere the customer can reach you but cannot tap a card.
Phone orders
Take payment while the customer is still on the call, without transferring them or asking them to go online.
Deposits and bookings
Secure a reservation, appointment or event booking with a card payment taken during the call.
Mail order
Process written order forms where the card details arrive on paper rather than through a checkout.
Back-office collections
Chase an overdue invoice and settle it on the spot, rather than waiting on a bank transfer that may not arrive.
Rebills and corrections
Re-take a failed payment or process an agreed adjustment without rebuilding the original order.
Call-centre teams
Multiple operators on one merchant account, each keying payments from their own browser session.
What you take on when you key a card
Most providers sell the Virtual Terminal without mentioning any of this. Better to know before you start.
It brings you into PCI scope
Keying a customer's card number into a browser puts that browser, and the room it is in, inside your PCI scope. It is a legitimate and widely used channel, but it carries more obligation than a hosted checkout. Where you can send a payment link instead, you generally should.
Never write card details down
Do not record a card number on paper, in a CRM note, in a support ticket, or on a call recording. If your calls are recorded, the recording must be paused or the card segment suppressed before the number is read out.
3-D Secure does not apply
MOTO transactions sit outside the scope of strong customer authentication, so 3-D Secure 2 is not applied as it would be at an online checkout. More of the fraud liability therefore sits with you, which is why this channel suits established, verifiable customer relationships.
Regulated, safeguarded settlement
Payments settle to your UK bank account the next working day. Merchant funds are safeguarded in designated UK trust accounts. Payment services are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need any hardware to use the Virtual Terminal?+
Does it cost extra?+
Is a Virtual Terminal payment more expensive than chip and PIN?+
Is it PCI compliant?+
Can several people use it at once?+
Does 3-D Secure apply?+
Can I refund a Virtual Terminal payment?+
Should I use this or Pay by Link?+
Other ways to take payment
Pay by Link
Send a one-time link instead of keying the card. Smaller PCI scope, 3-D Secure 2 applied.
Explore →Online Payments
Hosted checkout, recurring billing and the full card-not-present toolkit.
Explore →Card Machines
For customers who are actually in front of you. PAX terminals from £25/month.
Explore →Start taking phone payments
The Virtual Terminal is included on every Monek account. Send us a recent statement and we'll quote you a like-for-like UK rate within the hour.