Credit Card Machines 101.com: Buying guide to credit card terminal & check reader equipment

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Software Virtual Terminals

Virtual terminals are credit card payment terminals implemented in software - no physical device is used. You simply type in the customer's credit card number from your PC and a payment gateway processes and authorizes the transaction. Virtual terminals are ideal if you do your business exclusively by phone, fax or email.

Virtual terminal software systems are pretty sophisticated, allowing you in real-time to enter transactions, refund money to a customer's credit card, automatically bill customers for recurring charges, check the status of transactions, do batch transaction processing, and run a wide variety of different reports.

Most virtual terminals today are accessed over the Internet through a Web browser to the payment gateway provider or merchant account provider website, although some systems rely on software being installed on your own Web server. This can be dependent on whether you choose to lease the virtual terminal or buy it outright - be sure and study your options and total lifetime costs here as prices can really vary.

Sellers of credit card machines