Best virtual terminals in Ireland for small businesses

Need to take payments over the phone, but not sure which virtual terminal to choose? Also called MOTO (Mail Order and Telephone Order) payments, Ireland has a limited number of virtual terminals we can vouch for. Only a few offer truly good value for a small business.

Compared with card machines, manually typing card details is more expensive. That’s because there’s a greater risk of fraud when a card is not physically read in a machine.

There is, however, a lot of variation in costs between different online payment terminals.

Some providers require a monthly fee, formal PCI-DSS documentation and fees per transaction. Others only require the transaction fee, completely bypassing a traditional contract and subscription charges.

You can go many months without using the terminal, without being charged anything, and it will still be available as a complimentary feature in your Square account.

Square Virtual Terminal accepts Visa, V Pay, Mastercard, Maestro and American Express.

Every time we tried the virtual payment terminal page, it was super-easy to fill in and process each sale. Only the card details, amount to pay and a short note that will be shown in your sales reports (i.e. not for personal details) have to be submitted for a ‘quick charge’. If needed, you can itemise the bill with products from your library or new custom items, taxes, discounts and variants.

Pricing

Monthly cost: Free

Transaction fee: 2.5% + VAT (all cards)

PCI-DSS compliance: No cost

Saving cardholder details in the system allows you to pick this as the payment method or start a recurring payment if a subscription or ongoing service has been authorised. You can also record cash, gift cards or other tenders and split the transaction into different payment methods.

Alternatively, Square merchants can accept keyed card payments on the go in the free Square Point of Sale app on iOS and Android devices. However, you cannot create recurring transactions in the app.

We tried Square’s browser-based virtual terminal on iPhone and found this is absolutely possible, but the responsiveness of the page was frustrating on a small screen.

Square has really lowered the threshold for getting started with payments, whether it’s for the point of sale, invoicing, ecommerce or in this case a virtual terminal. There is no requirement to submit PCI-DSS documentation, but Square does expect you to follow general security recommendations in line with the regulations.

Best for: Small, new or seasonal businesses needing an easy, commitment-free option for remote payments.

You can process MOTO terminal payments from either the myPOS app or online merchant account in a browser. This makes it a more flexible solution than Square that still requires signing into its browser dashboard.

The myPOS Virtual Terminal is pretty straightforward, with not too much required information to fill in.

Funds reach your online myPOS account immediately after the transaction is complete, allowing you to spend it right away with the complimentary business Visa card online or in stores, or by transferring the money to any account globally (at varying costs).

Pricing

Monthly cost: Free

Transaction fees: 2.69% + € 0.05 for EU, EEA & UK consumer cards, 3.89% + € 0.05 for all other cards

PCI-DSS compliance: Free

myPOS would particularly suit businesses with a team of staff, since multiple cards and user logins can be created. Its multi-currency features also lends itself to cross-border payments, but it’s not cheap to accept or send money internationally.

In fact, transaction fees are pretty high for international, premium and commercial cards at 3.89% + € 0.05, while domestic, EEA and UK personal cards cost 2.69% + € 0.05 per telephone payment.

The sign-up process for myPOS is lengthier than Square’s, as you’ll need to submit various documents and complete a video call to sign up (takes a few days in total). Once you have an account, the virtual terminal requires a separate sign-up through your online merchant account.

Best for: Small businesses who want instant access to funds and a cross-border account.

Unlike Square and myPOS, Elavon doesn’t list their transaction fees upfront, just the monthly fixed fee: €32 for all plans. The “Flexible” plan includes fraud screening tools, whereas the “Fixed” plan doesn’t seem to.

350 free transactions are included on both plans, which you can assume is just for domestic card payments (foreign, premium or commercial cards usually cost significantly more).

The Fixed plan advertises a low starting rate (1.25%) per transaction outside the 350 monthly free bundle. Otherwise, both Fixed and Flexible plans tailor rates according to your card turnover and type of card accepted.

Only Mastercard, Maestro and Visa cards are accepted by Opayo Virtual Terminal. That’s not many, but it does cover most cards by far that consumers use.

Pricing

Plans:

Flexible plan: €32/month, fraud screening tools included

Fixed pricing: €32/month + €49 joining fee, from 1.25% per transaction

Transaction fees: 350 free transactions included per month, then tailored fees

The virtual terminal is accessed in your merchant portal on a computer. We don’t recommend using it in your mobile browser, since it’s not really built for small screens. You can add a lot of details to each transaction, like the home address, delivery address and contact information of the cardholder. You can also choose a currency other than euro.

A great thing about the package is the fact it includes payment links and options to integrate with an ecommerce website. This makes it particularly attractive for those expecting to transact more broadly online through a card processor with flexible rates.

Funds are processed in your bank account the next business day.

Best for: Existing Elavon users expecting to sell more broadly online and remotely.

The virtual terminal costs nothing in monthly fees, but transactions cost 2.95% + €0.25 regardless of card type or sales volume. Although this is pricier than other virtual terminals on the market, the lack of a monthly cost could still mean it is the most economical solution for occasional phone payments.

SumUp merchants taking card payments through a Solo or Air card reader benefit from keeping both face-to-face and phone payment transactions viewable in the same account, or exported to Excel for accounting.

The virtual terminal accepts Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express, Diners Club, Discover and JCB, which is the largest selection of accepted cards (on this shortlist) included automatically.

Pricing

Monthly cost: Free

Transaction fee: 2.95% + €0.25 (any card)

PCI compliance: Free

There is no contract with SumUp. Once activated, you can accept payments through the virtual terminal when required, but a period of non-usage may deactivate it eventually, requiring you to contact SumUp again.

The only additional information you can enter on the virtual terminal page is a short description. No customer address or other information than essential card details can be added, so it is by far the most basic option on this shortlist. It does mean that it’s quick and easy to use, as we have found when testing it.

The main strength of SumUp Virtual Terminal is the fact you can use it in both SumUp App and a web browser. Most virtual terminals are only accessible in internet browsers, but SumUp’s access in their mobile app makes it ideal for on-the-go merchants with no computer access.

Best for: SumUp users requiring a simple solution for occasional over-the-phone payments.

The company says you can use its MOTO terminal on a computer, tablet or mobile phone, but we haven’t seen evidence of an app with the feature. We’ve only seen examples of a browser-based merchant portal built mainly for a computer, not a small screen like a smartphone.

Nevertheless, there’s a package for the virtual terminal with a monthly fee dependent on your card turnover:

• €16.62/month with less than €50k annual payments
• €20.78/month with annual transactions up to €250k
• €24.95/month with annual transactions up to €1.2m

Transaction fees are added on top.

Pricing

Monthly fee: €16.62-€24.95 (lower fee on annual plans)

Transaction fees: Custom rates depend on cards and turnover

PCI compliance: Costs apply

We like the fact you can take your first payment within 24 hours (of a working day) and get 24/7 support as part of the service. But we’re disappointed with the lack of transparency of transaction fees, which are tailored around your business and card turnover.

When speaking with a Paymentsense sales rep, we recommend getting a complete pricing outline, as there will be charges for mixed things like chargebacks, refunds, PCI-DSS compliance etc. Contracts are either monthly or annual for the virtual terminal.

Best for: Existing Paymentsense users who want to stick with the same provider for their telephone payments.