The card isn't here. The payment still is.
Phone orders, mailed-in forms, invoices, retainers on file. Card-not-present is how offices get paid. It runs from a browser, not a terminal. We set it up on real merchant accounts. The keyed-rate guardrails go on from day one.
Get a free rate analysisHow we set this up
Card-not-present has a name for being costly. Half of that is earned. Keyed sales do cost more. The networks charge for the risk of a card nobody looked at. The other half you do to yourself. It comes from setups that skip address verification. It also comes from invoice tools that bolt a convenience fee on top of bad rates.
Done right, the stack is simple. A virtual terminal keys in phone orders. It checks the address so they earn the best keyed rate on offer. Invoices go out by email with a pay button. Autopay covers repeat clients. Recurring billing handles the contracts. All of it sits on the same negotiated account as the rest of your processing.
Payments Hub is the centerpiece for our North-attached accounts. It is the web portal below. SwipeSimple and ProCharge bring their own web tools when they are the better fit.
What we carry
Payments Hub
The merchant portalNorth's web portal. It has a virtual terminal and invoices with autopay. It also has recurring billing and disputes. Plus full reports on the account. All behind one login.
- Key in phone orders and check the card address
- Send an invoice, and turn on autopay for the regulars
- Recurring billing schedules
- Disputes and full transaction history
Best for: Any office that bills by invoice. It also fits anyone on a North-attached account.
SwipeSimple dashboard
The lightweight web sideEvery SwipeSimple account comes with a web dashboard. The dashboard has a virtual terminal. It also has payment links. And invoices you can send by text or email.
- Virtual terminal from any browser
- Payment links, no invoice required
- Invoices by text or email
- Exportable reporting
Best for: Micro-merchants who want the web half without a bigger system.
ProCharge gateway
Web payments + QuickBooksElectronic Payments' gateway and desktop app. Key orders in at the office computer. They post to QuickBooks on their own.
- Desktop app for all-day keyed entry
- QuickBooks sync built in
- Recurring billing and card-on-file
- Real-time reporting
Best for: Offices that key in orders all day and match it all up in QuickBooks.
Payments Hub: the portal behind the account
Virtual terminal, invoices with autopay, recurring billing, disputes and every sale on your North-attached account. We wrote up the whole thing. What it does, what the plan tiers cost, and how we set it up.
Read the Payments Hub page →SwipeSimple
The web dashboard with virtual terminal and payment links is half the product. The full write-up, reader included, lives on its own page.
Read the SwipeSimple page →ProCharge
Gateway, desktop app and the QuickBooks sync that posts keyed orders to the ledger by itself. The full write-up lives on its own page.
Read the ProCharge page →Keyed will always cost more than tapped. The setup decides how much more.
Card-not-present rates are the thing we see set up wrong most often. No address verification. Wrong transaction codes. Invoices riding a convenience-fee patch. The networks publish just what a keyed sale needs to earn its best rate. We set it up that way on day one. The difference shows up on the first statement.
Fair questions
What is a virtual terminal?
A web page where you type in a card instead of tapping it: phone orders, mail orders, cards on file. It turns any computer into the payment desk, on your merchant account's rates.
Why do keyed transactions cost more?
Card networks price risk. A card nobody looked at is riskier. That extra cost is there on every processor. Your setup decides if you pay the small version of it or the careless one.
Can customers pay an invoice online?
Yes. Invoices go out by email or text with a pay button. You can add autopay too. That works for repeat clients, retainers and monthly billing.
Is this the same as e-commerce?
Cousins. With e-commerce, the customer types their own card into your website. With a virtual terminal, you key it in. Plenty of businesses run both on one account. We set up the e-commerce side too.
Do I need Payments Hub or something else?
If your account runs through North, Payments Hub is the natural fit: the core portal comes with the account and paid tiers add features. SwipeSimple and ProCharge make more sense when their app side is already the right fit. We match it to how you bill.
Can my fee program apply to keyed payments?
Program rules for card-not-present are not the same as at the counter. Some programs should not apply there at all. We set it up right for your program and put it in writing.