As a merchant, your business is unique. The Virtual Terminal allows you to customize the transaction forms you use every day to better match your business operations. This guide will walk you through why and how to customize your Virtual Terminal form for a more efficient, streamlined experience.
Why Customize Your Virtual Terminal Form?
Customizing your Virtual Terminal form allows you to:
- Speed up transactions by showing only the fields your staff needs.
- Eliminate unnecessary fields that don’t apply to your business.
- Reduce data entry errors by limiting the fields to only what's required.
- Create a cleaner, more user-friendly experience for your team.
Example Scenarios
- Retail store that only ships domestically: Hide the Country field so no one can select a foreign country by accident.
- Service-based business without shipping: Remove product or shipping information fields to simplify the form.
- B2B merchants needing extra data: Enable custom fields for purchase orders or customer reference numbers.
Prerequisites for Customizing Your Virtual Terminal
Before you begin, ensure the following:
- You (or the user making changes) have the Virtual Terminal Access permission.
- Access to the relevant Virtual Terminal types, depending on your accepted payment methods:
- Credit Card
- Electronic Check (if enabled)
- Cash (if enabled)
Permissions may vary per user depending on your business setup.
Note: Only certain transaction types can be customized (more details below).
Understanding Virtual Terminal Forms
When processing a transaction, you'll see a form containing multiple fields.
- Required fields: Marked with a red asterisk (*). These cannot be removed.
- Optional fields: Can be removed or added back as needed.
- Field availability: You may see between 50 to 70+ fields, depending on which features and services are active on your account.
Most merchants only use a small subset of these fields for daily transactions.
Services & Features That Affect Available Fields
Certain services and features determine which fields are shown on your form:
- Customer Vault: Adds vault storage fields.
- Level III Advantage: Adds detailed Level III data fields for B2B transactions.
- Multiple Processing Accounts: Adds processor selection fields.
- Custom Merchant Defined Fields: Adds custom fields you create for your unique data needs.
- Convenience Fee/Surcharging: Adds surcharge-related fields.
- Cloud Payment Device: Adds fields for connected cloud devices.
Customizable Transaction Types
Each transaction type has its own customizable form. You can customize:
- Credit Card Sale (CC Sale)
- Credit Card Authorization (CC Authorize)
- Credit Card Capture (limited customization)
- Check Sale
- Cash Sale
- Cash Credit
Note: Void and Refund transaction types are not customizable.
Step-by-Step: How to Customize Your Virtual Terminal Form
1. Log In and Navigate
- Log in to your Merchant Portal.
- Use the left-hand menu to select your desired payment type (Credit Card, Electronic Check, or Cash).
- Choose the transaction type you want to customize (e.g., Card Sale).
2. Open the Configuration Panel
- On the upper-right corner of the form, click Configure.
3. Customize the Fields
- Remove a field: Click the delete (X) icon next to any optional field.
- Add a field back: Click the restore (greyed-out X) icon next to any greyed-out field.
- Save your changes: Click Save Changes in the upper-right corner.
4. Understand Required Fields
- Fields marked with a red asterisk are required and cannot be removed.
- These may include:
- CVV/CID
- ZIP Code
- Other fields determined by your Merchant Service Provider during setup.
5. Special Note on Country Field
- If you only sell within one country and want to remove the Country field:
- First, set your Default Country in your Country/Currency Configuration.
- Then remove the Country field from the form.
Active Features That Impact Customization
| Feature | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Merchant Defined Fields | Only appear if you have created custom fields |
| Processor Field | Appears if you have multiple processors active |
| Add to Customer Vault | Appears if Customer Vault is enabled |
| Level III Fields | Appear if Level III Advantage is enabled |
| Cloud Payment Device | Appears if a cloud device is registered |
| Surcharge Fields | Appear if Convenience Fee/Surcharging is enabled |
Summary
Customizing your Virtual Terminal form allows you to simplify your staff’s workflow, reduce errors, and tailor the payment experience to your business needs. With just a few clicks, you can hide unnecessary fields, add relevant ones, and ensure your team sees only what they need to process payments quickly and accurately.
If you need assistance with customization or activating any services, please contact your Merchant Service Provider team directly for further guidance.