Difference Between Card Present And Card Not Present Transactions

In a card not present scenario, the details of the customer are put in manually and not swiped through a card reader. This term is often used for e-commerce merchants that operate their business through websites, over the telephone or through mail orders. MOTO merchants also fall in this category.

Let’s read more about the difference between Card present and Card Not Present Transactions.

The Risk Potential

The two categories, card present and card not present can be differentiated on the risk involved. CNP merchants are generally charged higher fees for interchange on comparison to CP merchants. The Merchant Services provider charges a higher rate since the potential for fraudulent transactions is high in CNP cases.

The Relevance

It needs to be understood that a CP account cannot be used to process transactions from a CNP connection and vice versa. Even if it is tried the transaction will face an error message. A CNP account can be used for CNP transactions only.

CP Transactions

In card present transactions the card and the customer are present in front of the customer. The card details are read through a card reader. The card reader picks up the details from the magnetic strip behind the card. Card present transactions are very common and the fees charged for these transactions are lower than that of CNP.