Card-Present

A card-present transaction occurs when a payment card is physically swiped, inserted, or tapped at a physical payment terminal. This traditional method is prevalent in brick-and-mortar environments, although more recent technology has enabled merchants to take mobile payments from just about anywhere, using a phone or tablet .

The presence of the cardholder combined with the physical interaction between the card and the terminal means buyers can be verified more accurately and in real time. Technologies like chip-and-PIN and contactless payments use encryption and tokenization tools to safeguard data. Card-not-present transactions lack many of these advantages, making online sales more vulnerable to fraud.