Manually Enter Card Payments Without a Square Reader

If your customer or a payment card isn’t present, or your reader is not working, you can manually enter your customer’s card details on a supported mobile device, use the Virtual Terminal or send an invoice from your online Square Dashboard or mobile device.

How Much Does Square Charge for Manual Entry?

For payments manually keyed-in to the Point of Sale app, Square's fee is 2% + VAT per transaction.

For Online Checkout Links for recurring payments, Square Invoices and Virtual Terminal, Square’s fee is 2.5% + VAT per transaction.

For payments accepted via our online payment products, the per transaction fee is 1.4% + 25c + VAT for European cards and 2.9% + 25c + VAT for non-European cards. This includes payments accepted through Square eCommerce APIs, Square Online, Online Checkout Links (non-recurring) and Digital Gift Card purchases.

Learn more about Square fees and how processing fees are calculated.

Steps to Manually Enter Payments From Your Square App

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

2. Toggle on Manual Payment Card Entry.

3. Process a transaction by adding items or entering custom amounts using the keypad.

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, expiry date, security code and the customer’s Eircode.

6. Tap Charge. If you want to cancel the payment, tap the arrow in the upper-left corner to return to the previous screen.

7. After selecting Charge, enter your customer’s preferred receipt delivery method.

Tap New Sale to take another payment.

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 euro 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.

Required Information for Manual Entry

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

• Complete card number

• Expiry date

• Security code/CVV

• Postcode (for cards issued in the United States, Canada or United Kingdom)

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.