How to take card payments over the phone
Quick Reference
Direct Answer
UK businesses take card payments over the phone three ways: send a payment link by text or email during the call (customer pays themselves, fraud liability shifts to the issuer, costs the online rate of roughly 1.4% to 2.5%), key the card into a virtual terminal (instant but liability stays with you; Square is free at 2.5% keyed, PayPal Virtual Terminal runs 2.9% + 30p standard or 1.2% + 30p blended), or open a MOTO merchant account with an acquirer for daily phone-payment volume, priced on quote. For most businesses the payment link is the safe default and the virtual terminal is the backup for customers who cannot use a link.
Summary
Taking card payments by phone in the UK, rates read 14 July 2026: payment links (Square 1.4% + 25p, Stripe 1.5% + 20p, SumUp 2.5%, no monthly fee, 3D Secure shifts liability to issuer) versus virtual terminals (Square free, 2.5% keyed; PayPal Virtual Terminal 2.9% + 30p standard, 1.2% + 30p blended Visa Mastercard Maestro; Stripe from about 2.5% + 25p; liability stays with merchant) versus MOTO merchant accounts from Worldpay, Elavon and Opayo, takepayments and Handepay, quoted per business. Never write card numbers down; pause call recordings during card read-out (PCI DSS).
This Page Covers
The three ways to take a card payment over the phone in the UK, real published costs as of July 2026, and who owns fraud liability on each.
Not Covered Here
Deep PCI DSS scope detail and provider-by-provider virtual terminal walkthroughs, which live in our virtual terminal guide.
The three routes, compared
| Route | Cost | Fraud liability | On-call speed | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payment link sent during the call | No monthly fee; Square 1.4% + 25p, Stripe 1.5% + 20p, SumUp 2.5% | Shifts to the card issuer (3D Secure) | Customer completes it themselves, on or after the call | Most phone orders; the safe default |
| Virtual terminal (you key the card) | Square free at 2.5% keyed; PayPal Virtual Terminal 2.9% + 30p standard or 1.2% + 30p blended Visa, Mastercard and Maestro; Stripe from about 2.5% + 25p | Stays with you (card not present, no 3D Secure) | Done while the customer is on the line | Live calls where the order must complete now; repeat B2B payers |
| MOTO merchant account (acquirer virtual terminal) | On quote; usually a monthly fee plus keyed rates (Worldpay, Elavon and Opayo, takepayments, Handepay Phone Payments) | Stays with you | Done on the line; built for volume | Businesses taking phone payments daily at real volume |
Published rates read from provider pricing pages 14 July 2026; the Stripe keyed figure is the indicative rate from our virtual terminal guide. Acquirer MOTO pricing is quoted per business.
Which route to pick
Default to the payment link. Text or email a payment link while the customer is on the phone: they pay on a hosted page, 3D Secure authenticates it, and fraud liability sits with the card issuer instead of you. It also costs less than keyed rates (1.4% + 25p at Square against 2.5% keyed). The only cost is a moment of friction: the customer has to open the link.
Keep a virtual terminal for the exceptions. Some payers cannot or will not use a link (no smartphone, a B2B accounts department settling an invoice by card on a scheduled call). Keying the card into a virtual terminal completes the payment on the line. Square's is free with no monthly fee at 2.5% keyed; PayPal's Virtual Terminal charges 2.9% + 30p standard, or 1.2% + 30p for Visa, Mastercard and Maestro on its blended pricing. Accept that chargeback liability stays with you on every keyed payment.
Move to a MOTO account at volume. If phone payments are your daily trade (trade counters, ticket lines, service businesses billing by phone), an acquirer MOTO account with a proper virtual terminal (Worldpay, Elavon and Opayo, takepayments, Handepay's Phone Payments product) prices the risk properly and supports card-on-file for repeat payers. These are quote-priced with monthly fees, so benchmark any quote against the pay-as-you-go rates above. Our quote service does exactly that comparison.
Two rules regardless of route: never write card numbers down or store them, and pause call recording while the card is read out. The PCI scope detail, SAQ categories and provider walkthroughs are in the full virtual terminal guide.
In one sentence
Send a link by default, key the card only when you must, and get a MOTO account when the phone is your counter.
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Get matched in 2 minutesFrequently asked questions
Can I take a card payment over the phone without a card machine?
Yes, and a card machine is the wrong tool for it anyway: phone payments are card-not-present, so keying a read-out number into a normal terminal usually processes at a worse keyed rate and breaks scheme rules on some accounts. The right tools are a payment link sent by text or email, a virtual terminal in your provider dashboard, or a MOTO merchant account if volume justifies it.
What does it cost to take card payments by phone?
On published July 2026 pricing, nothing monthly at the pay-as-you-go providers. A payment link costs the online rate (Square 1.4% + 25p, Stripe 1.5% + 20p, SumUp 2.5%). Keying the card into a virtual terminal costs more: Square 2.5% keyed, PayPal Virtual Terminal 2.9% + 30p standard or 1.2% + 30p on its blended Visa, Mastercard and Maestro pricing. Acquirer MOTO accounts are quoted per business, usually with a monthly fee.
Why does everyone say a payment link is safer than keying the card?
Liability. When the customer enters their own details on a hosted page, the payment can carry 3D Secure authentication and fraud liability shifts to the card issuer. When you key a card into a virtual terminal there is no 3D Secure, the transaction is card-not-present, and a fraudulent payment or chargeback lands on you. Same card, same customer, different risk owner.
Is it legal to write down card details while I take them by phone?
Writing card numbers down, storing them, or capturing them on a call recording pulls you into serious PCI DSS scope and is where most small-business phone-payment compliance failures happen. Key details straight into the virtual terminal, never store the security code, and pause any call recording while the number is read out. Our virtual terminal guide covers the PCI detail.
What is MOTO?
Mail Order / Telephone Order: the card-scheme category for payments where the cardholder is not present and the merchant enters the card details, historically from mail-order coupons and phone orders. MOTO transactions are priced and risk-assessed differently from in-person or ecommerce payments, which is why acquirers sell dedicated MOTO accounts for businesses that live on the phone.
Sources
Rates read 14 July 2026 from: the PayPal UK merchant fees page (paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/merchant-fees, Virtual Terminal tiers), squareup.com/gb/en/point-of-sale/retail (keyed rate), squareup.com/gb/en/online-checkout, stripe.com/gb/payments/payment-links, sumup.com/en-gb/pricing. Handepay Phone Payments product listing from handepay.co.uk (as archived October 2025). Acquirer MOTO pricing is not published and is quoted per business.
Related
Virtual terminals UK (full guide) · Payment links UK · QR code payments · Card machines with manual entry · PCI DSS for UK merchants · Fees calculator
Reviewed by Oliver Mackman. Last reviewed: 2026-07-14.