Virtual Payment Terminal

What Does Virtual Payment Terminal Mean?

A virtual payment terminal is a system that's designed to provide point-of-sale solutions through various types of end-devices.

Techopedia Explains Virtual Payment Terminal

As a type of virtual terminal, a virtual payment terminal tends to meet the following characteristics:

• Allows remote access for local area network (LAN) managers
• Provides access to information from a host processor
• Supports transaction processing securely

Many types of virtual payment terminals are set up to allow merchants to easily accept credit card payments or other common types of payments from common household devices, such as laptop or desktop computers. Many types of platforms also support this type of point-of-sale functionality through mobile devices, such as smart phones or tablets.

In general, a virtual payment terminal is a popular type of merchant vendor service. Companies are taking advantage of advances in cloud computing and secure wireless networks to simply use pre-owned devices as ad hoc cash registers. A virtual payment terminal helps to accomplish this as a fundamental layer of software for transaction processing.

The uses of a virtual payment terminal, from a merchant standpoint, are nearly endless: the use of this type of software with popular consumer devices can be seen in small boutique shops, in expansions on the retail floor, in pop-up retail locations, in restaurants and hotels, and nearly anywhere that buying and selling gets done.