When a customer’s chip won’t read or the magnetic stripe is damaged, most payment terminals let you type the card number directly into the keypad. The process takes a few extra seconds and requires more information than a standard swipe or tap, but it works on nearly every modern terminal once you know the steps.
Steps to Manually Enter a Card Number
The exact menu flow varies slightly by terminal brand and payment processor, but the general sequence is consistent across Ingenico, Verifone, Clover, and similar machines.
- Start a sale. From the idle screen, select “Sale” (or press the sale button, depending on your terminal). Choose “Credit” or “Debit” when prompted.
- Enter the transaction amount. Key in the dollar amount and press Enter. Confirm the amount when the screen asks you to verify.
- Key in the card number. When the terminal prompts you to swipe, insert, or tap, simply begin typing the full card number on the keypad instead. Press Enter after the last digit.
- Enter the expiration date. Type the two-digit month and two-digit year (for example, 0827 for August 2027), then press Enter.
- Enter the CVV code. This is the three-digit security code on the back of the card (four digits on the front for American Express). Press Enter.
- Enter the billing ZIP code. Some terminals also ask for the cardholder’s street address. Type it in and press Enter.
- Confirm card presence. The terminal may ask whether the physical card is present. Select Yes if the customer handed you the card, or No if you’re taking the number over the phone.
After these steps, the terminal sends the transaction for authorization just like a normal sale. If approved, print or email the receipt as usual.
Information You Need Before You Start
Manual entry requires more data than a chip or tap transaction because the terminal can’t pull encrypted information from the card itself. Have all four pieces ready before you begin: the complete card number, the expiration date, the CVV security code, and the cardholder’s billing ZIP code. Missing any one of these will either stall the process or cause a decline.
If the customer is standing in front of you, ask to hold the card so you can read each field directly. For phone or mail orders, collect all four data points before you touch the terminal.
Why Manual Entry Costs More
Keyed-in transactions are classified as “card not present” by payment processors, even when the customer is standing right there. That classification carries higher processing fees because manually entered transactions have a greater fraud risk than chip-read or tap payments.
The difference is meaningful. Stripe, for example, charges 2.7% plus 5 cents for in-person chip and tap transactions but 2.9% plus 30 cents for keyed or online payments. Shopify’s Basic plan charges 2.6% plus 10 cents in person versus 2.9% plus 30 cents for manually entered sales. On a $100 transaction, that gap works out to roughly 50 to 55 cents more per sale. For an occasional damaged card, the extra cost is trivial. If you’re keying in dozens of transactions a day, it adds up fast.
When the Terminal Won’t Allow Manual Entry
If you type in a card number and the screen displays “Swipe Only” or simply won’t accept keystrokes at the card prompt, manual entry has been disabled in your terminal’s settings. This is a configurable feature, not a hardware limitation. A store manager or account administrator can enable or disable manual entry for specific card types or for the terminal as a whole.
Some terminals also require a manager password before allowing a keyed transaction. If you’re prompted for a password you don’t have, check with your manager or whoever set up the terminal. The setting is typically found in the terminal’s configuration or “Edit Terminal” menu under a manual entry toggle. Once enabled, the terminal accepts typed card numbers at the payment prompt without any special button sequence.
If manual entry is enabled but the transaction still declines, the issue is usually one of three things: a mistyped digit in the card number, an incorrect expiration date, or a ZIP code that doesn’t match the one on file with the card issuer. Re-enter the information carefully and try again.
Imprinting the Card
On some terminal setups, the screen will prompt you to “Imprint Card” after a manually keyed sale. This is a reference to taking a physical impression of the card using a manual imprinter (the old “knuckle buster” slider). It serves as proof that the card was physically present. Not every merchant still has an imprinter, but if yours does, running an imprint on keyed transactions gives you stronger evidence in case of a chargeback dispute later.
Keyed Entry for Returns and Forced Sales
Manual entry isn’t limited to standard sales. If you need to process a return and the original card won’t swipe or insert, you can key in the card number during the return flow using the same sequence: select Return, choose Credit or Debit, enter the refund amount, then type the card number, expiration date, and security prompts.
A force sale (sometimes called a “credit force”) works similarly but adds one extra step. Force sales are used when you’ve already received a voice authorization code from the card issuer, typically because the terminal couldn’t connect at the time of the original sale. After keying in the card details, the terminal asks you to enter that authorization code before completing the transaction.