Manually Enter Card Payments Without a Square Reader

If your customer or a payment card isn’t present, you can manually enter your customers’ card information to process payments with Square. 

Steps to Manually Enter Payments From Your App

To accept payments on a supported device using Square Point of Sale without a reader:

1. From the navigation bar at the bottom of your screen, tap More > Settings > Checkout > Payment Types.

2. Toggle on Manual Credit Card Entry.

3. Return to the Checkout screen and add items from your Item Library or enter custom amounts using the keypad. Learn how to customise your checkout screen.

4. Tap Charge to process the payment. Note: If you’re using a mobile device or your tablet is being used in Portrait mode (vertically), tap Review Sale > Charge.

5. Tap Manual Card Entry > enter the card number, expiration date and CVV.

6. Tap Charge.

7. If you want to cancel the payment, tap the back arrow to return to the previous screen.

8. Send your customer a digital receipt via email or SMS.

9. Tap New Sale to take another payment.

Note: Change the quantity, apply tax, add a description or remove an item by tapping it in your current sale.

Take a Payment with Virtual Terminal

You can process payments from your computer with Virtual Terminal.

To manually enter a payment using a computer:

1. Log into your online Square Dashboard using a supported browser.

2. Navigate to Virtual Terminal > Take a Payment.

3. Select Quick Charge to charge your customer a single dollar amount or Itemised Sale to add an item, modifier, discount, and tax to the sale.

4. Add an optional note to the sale.

5. Under Payment Method, select Manually Enter Card.

6. Enter the card details provided by your customer.

7. Click Charge.

Once you see Payment Successful, you are all set and you can view your payment in your Dashboard Sales Report.

Learn more about accepting payments with Virtual Terminal and how processing fees are calculated.

Required Information for Manual Entry

We require all of the following information for transactions entered manually:

• Complete card number

• Expiration date

• Security code/CVV

If any piece of information is entered incorrectly, the card will be declined. If the card numbers entered turn red, review Square’s payment troubleshooting.

Note: At this time, eftpos cards cannot be manually entered due to restrictions placed on the cards by the eftpos network.