How to Accept Credit Card Transactions when the Terminal Is Down

Card acceptors doing business in a face-to-face payment processing setting will often find themselves not able to get their point-of-sale (POS) terminal read the credit card's account information from its magnetic stripe or they may not be able to receive an authorization approval for the payment. If that is the case, you will not be able to accept credit card transactions the ordinary swiped way. The problem may be caused by one of the following issues:

• The POS credit card terminal's magnetic stripe card reader might be malfunctioning and not operating properly.
• The card itself might not have been swiped correctly through the reader.
• The card's magnetic stripe could be damaged or demagnetized. You need to bear in mind that such damage to the card's mag stripe may occur by accident, but it can also be a sign that the bank card is not valid or it has been tampered with.
  

Whatever the issue, when the POS terminal cannot read the card's account data, the retailer needs to do one of the following things:

• Inspect the POS terminal to make certain that it is in a proper working condition and that your customer is swiping the card correctly.
• If the POS machine looks to be operational, you will need to inspect the card to make certain that it has not been adulterated in any way and it is genuine.
• If the card's stripe cannot be read because there is an issue with it, the retailer at the checkout needs to follow the accepted store procedures. One possible option would be, for example, to override the swiping process altogether and to manually key-enter the payment information. Additionally, a call to your merchant account provider’s voice authorization center may be needed.
• Whether the payment information is manually key-entered or authorized by the voice center, the retailer needs to take a manual imprint of the front of the bank card as a proof that the card was actually physically present throughout the transaction. The card's imprint needs to be made on the transaction receipt or on a separate sales slip signed by the cardholder. The card's imprint protects the retailer from chargebacks in the case of a fraud.
  

Keyed bank card transactions are fully acceptable, however you need to bear in mind that they are associated with significantly higher levels of fraud and chargebacks. A substantial disadvantage actually proves to be the fact that some security features, such as the card's expiration date and security code, are not available.