There are a few options to collect payments for mail orders or orders placed over the phone. “Card-Not-Present” is a credit card processing industry term which means that the physical debit or credit card is absent during the sale. Card-not-present transactions happen either when the merchant types in the credit card information on location (even if the card is in hand), or when the customer types it in from another location such as in e-commerce sales.

Unfortunately in today’s market, card-not-present transactions pose a much higher risk for fraud because the card is not swiped through a card reading device and not on location during the sale. Transaction fees for card-not-present generally run at higher Interchange processing fees.