Turn Any Device Into A Payment Terminal. No Hardware Required.
A virtual terminal is exactly what it sounds like: a software-based payment terminal that lives in a browser tab instead of on a countertop. Log into your 2Accept dashboard from a laptop, a tablet, or a smartphone, enter a customer's card details, and process a transaction — from anywhere with an internet connection, at any hour, without a physical device in the room.
For businesses that take phone orders, collect deposits before a project begins, handle mail-order transactions, bill remote clients, or simply need a backup when their primary terminal goes down, the virtual terminal is not a convenience feature — it's an essential part of how they operate.
2Accept's virtual terminal is built into every merchant account. There's no additional software to install, no separate monthly fee, and no secondary approval process. If your 2Accept merchant account is active, your virtual terminal is ready to use.
The 2Accept virtual terminal handles in-store payments, phone orders, mail orders, invoice collection, and card-on-file billing — all from a single dashboard that syncs with every other 2Accept payment channel in real time.
What You Can Do From the Virtual Terminal
Process Phone and Mail Order Transactions
When a customer calls to place an order, book a service, or make a payment, the virtual terminal allows you to complete the transaction immediately — while they're on the phone. Enter the card number, expiration date, CVV, and billing address, confirm the amount, and process. The transaction authorizes in seconds and a digital receipt is sent to the customer's email automatically.
This workflow applies to any card-not-present scenario: phone orders for retail and restaurant businesses, deposit collection for contractors and service providers, remote billing for subscription services, and payment collection for healthcare, legal, and professional services firms where in-person card presentation is not part of the normal workflow.
Accept In-Person Payments Without a Terminal
If your primary payment hardware is unavailable — a terminal malfunction, a connection failure, a new location that isn't yet equipped — the virtual terminal provides an immediate alternative. On a tablet or laptop with a USB card reader attached, you can accept in-person card swipes through the virtual terminal at the standard card-present rate. Or, simply enter the card details manually for a card-not-present transaction at the keyed-in rate. Either way, the sale completes without waiting for a replacement device to arrive.
Store Cards on File for Repeat Customers
For businesses with regular customers — monthly service clients, recurring project work, subscription arrangements — re-entering card details on every transaction is inefficient and creates unnecessary friction. 2Accept's virtual terminal supports card-on-file storage: with customer permission, their payment method is tokenized and stored securely in your 2Accept account, ready to be charged on future transactions without requiring the customer to provide their card details again.
Card-on-file is particularly valuable for service businesses that bill monthly retainers, home service companies that return for regular visits, and any business where the customer relationship spans multiple billing cycles.
Set Up Recurring Payments
From the virtual terminal, you can configure a recurring payment schedule against a stored card — weekly, monthly, quarterly, or at any custom interval your billing model requires. Once configured, the charge processes automatically on the defined schedule and the transaction record appears in your dashboard. No manual entry required on recurring billing dates, no risk of missed charges because someone forgot to run the payment.
Recurring payment support makes the virtual terminal the right tool for:
- Monthly retainer clients in professional services
- Gym memberships, studio fees, and wellness subscriptions
- Property management and HOA fee collection
- Software-as-a-service and SaaS-adjacent businesses
- Ongoing service contracts for IT, security, and maintenance firms
- Installment payment plans for high-ticket purchases
Send Email Invoices and Collect Online
The virtual terminal and invoicing module share the same dashboard and workflow. From the virtual terminal, you can switch from entering card details manually to sending a payment request by email — generating a hosted checkout link your customer can use to pay on their own device at their own convenience. The same transaction, two collection methods, one dashboard.
Issue Refunds and Manage Transactions
Every transaction processed through the virtual terminal is visible in your 2Accept dashboard with its full transaction record. Full refunds, partial refunds, and voids can be initiated directly from the transaction detail screen — no need to call support or access a separate tool. Refund confirmations are sent automatically to the customer's email.
Security Architecture Of The 2Accept Virtual Terminal
PCI DSS Compliant Payment Environment
Virtual terminals represent a specific compliance challenge: card details are being entered manually by a merchant employee rather than captured by an encrypted card reader. 2Accept's virtual terminal is built to address this directly. The payment entry form operates within a PCI DSS compliant environment, and all card data is encrypted at the point of entry through the browser interface — before it ever touches your device or your network.
Address Verification Service (AVS)
Card Verification Value (CVV) Checks
Tokenization — No Card Numbers Stored on Your Systems
Session Security and Access Controls
When a Virtual Terminal Is the Right Tool
Service Businesses Billing Remotely
An interior designer collecting a project deposit before the first site visit. A marketing consultant invoicing a client at the end of the month. A home inspector collecting payment over the phone after delivering a report. For all of these, the customer is not standing in front of a terminal — but payment still needs to happen. The virtual terminal is the right answer.
Businesses That Take Phone Orders
Restaurants accepting catering deposits by phone. Retailers processing orders from customers who call in. Florists taking large arrangement orders before delivery day. Pharmacies billing for specialty prescriptions that ship by mail. In each case, the transaction starts with a phone call, and the virtual terminal closes it in under a minute.
High-Risk Merchants Who Need a Reliable Backup
High-risk merchants are disproportionately vulnerable to hardware disruptions — because when their terminal fails, finding a same-day replacement through a mainstream provider is often impossible. A dispensary, a firearms retailer, or a vape shop cannot walk into a Best Buy and pick up a replacement Clover. With a 2Accept virtual terminal, they have a fully functional payment processing option available immediately on any device — while the hardware situation is resolved.
Backup Processing During Hardware Failures
Any business, regardless of risk category, benefits from having a payment processing backup. When a terminal malfunctions during a busy shift, the virtual terminal allows sales to continue uninterrupted on any available device. Transactions processed through the virtual terminal sync with your full transaction history, so there's no reconciliation gap between the backup session and normal operations.
Multi-Location and Field Operations
For businesses expanding to a new location that isn't yet equipped with fixed hardware, or for teams that work at client sites, the virtual terminal provides immediate payment capability on any device the staff member already carries. No wait time for hardware to arrive. No installation required. A functional payment processing station in 30 seconds, anywhere there's internet access.
Virtual Terminal for High-Risk and Regulated Businesses
The virtual terminal, like every 2Accept payment feature, is available to merchants across all risk categories. Businesses in industries that other processors exclude — cannabis dispensaries, firearms dealers, CBD brands, subscription billing models, and others — gain full access to virtual terminal functionality as part of their 2Accept merchant account.
This is not a minor point. Virtual terminals from Clover, Square, and Stripe are inaccessible to high-risk merchants because those merchants cannot obtain accounts in the first place. 2Accept removes that barrier.
The 2Accept virtual terminal is available at no additional monthly cost to all active merchants. Card-not-present transactions are processed at the standard keyed-in rate for your account. No separate activation or approval is required — access is included from the moment your merchant account goes live.