An easy guide to MOTO payments

In this day and age, there are a multitude of ways to perform financial transactions. One of the lesser known methods is MOTO payments, which stands for Mail Order Telephone Order.

MOTO transactions are usually performed manually where the merchant enters a customer’s card details (PAN and expiry date) into a Virtual Terminal.

It is most commonly used to make payments but can also be used for pre-authorisations (which are common in the car rental industry) as well as for refunds.

By definition, a MOTO transaction is a payment made with a debit card via phone or mail in order to place an order or a make a purchase.

Now, let’s diver deeper into this topic.

How to accept MOTO payments for your commercial activities

Businesses vary by type and function and sometimes you don’t have a POS terminal at hand, or your customer is located very far away from you.

This is where payment via a myPOS Virtual Terminal comes in handy. It doesn’t matter where your customer is, you will still be able to process their payment through your computer, phone, laptop or tablet.

The benefits are that there are no monthly fees for this service, it’s easy to use and affordable.

So, let’s find out how processing MOTO transactions from a myPOS Virtual Terminal works:

• Log in to the Virtual Terminal online using your phone, computer, tablet or laptop. Remember that you also need an internet connection for this purpose.
• Enter the customer’s details
• The customer’s bank will receive a notification of the transaction for approval
• Once authorised, the merchant will receive confirmation of this, and the customer will receive a receipt of the transaction
• The merchant receives the payment into their account within several business days, depending on which issuing bank is authorising the transaction

Do I need a special MOTO merchant account?

You might be wondering whether you need a special or separate merchant account to process MOTO transactions.

The good news is that we are consolidating the MOTO account and the standard merchant account and you, as a merchant, don’t need to open a new account for this purpose.

This will save you many taxes on MOTO transactions with financial institutions such as banks.

The way forward

Now that you know more about MOTO payments and transactions, you can see how relevant it is in today’s business landscape and what a good decision it is for small businesses in the UK.

All you need is a computer or a mobile device, an internet connection and a Virtual Terminal in order to take and enter the cardholder’s information and submit it for authorisation to the customer’s bank.

In this way, you don’t need a POS terminal at hand, and you can process transactions even when the customer is not physically present or if they are very far away. Don’t hesitate to start accepting MOTO payments and increase your revenue.