Documentation

Customer-Present

Customer-Present Payments

Customer-present payments are in-person transactions where the cardholder is physically present at the point of sale. This includes EMV chip insertion, contactless tap, and tap-to-phone flows.

PerfectPay handles customer-present payments through the same orchestration layer as card-not-present transactions. You get unified reporting, smart routing, and multi-processor failover whether the card was tapped at a counter or entered in a browser.

How It Works

The processing flow for customer-present payments:

  1. The terminal captures card data (EMV chip read, contactless NFC, or magnetic stripe fallback)
  2. The terminal or POS system sends the encrypted card data to PerfectPay
  3. PerfectPay routes the transaction to the configured processor based on your routing rules
  4. The processor authorizes with the card network
  5. PerfectPay returns the authorization result
  6. The terminal displays the outcome to the customer

All of this happens within the same payments API. The difference is the payment_method_type and the source of the card data.

PCI-DSS v4 Compliance

Customer-present transactions involve direct card data capture, which means PCI-DSS scope applies to every component in the chain.

PerfectPay's architecture keeps you on the right side of compliance:

  • Point-to-point encryption (P2PE) -- terminals encrypt card data at the reader before it ever touches your systems
  • Tokenization -- PerfectPay stores tokens, not raw PANs
  • Key management -- encryption keys are managed in a dedicated key manager with hardware-backed storage
  • Audit logging -- all transaction events are logged with 365-day retention for compliance audits

Your PCI scope depends on your terminal integration model. P2PE-certified terminals with direct-to-PerfectPay connectivity minimize your SAQ requirements.

Terminal Integration

PerfectPay supports terminal integration through compatible processors that offer terminal management capabilities.

Supported Terminal Types

  • Countertop terminals -- standalone devices for retail checkout (Verifone, Ingenico, PAX)
  • Mobile card readers -- Bluetooth or audio-jack readers paired with a phone or tablet
  • Tap-to-phone -- NFC-capable smartphones acting as payment terminals (no external hardware)
  • Unattended terminals -- kiosks, vending machines, and self-checkout

Terminal Setup

Terminal configuration is managed through the connector that provides terminal services:

  1. Add a connector that supports customer-present processing
  2. Register your terminal device with the connector
  3. Configure the terminal profile (location, capabilities, receipt settings)
  4. Pair the terminal with your PerfectPay merchant account

The exact setup steps depend on the terminal provider and the connector. Consult the connector's documentation for device registration procedures.

Creating a Customer-Present Payment

POST /payments

GET //sandbox.perfectpay.ai/payments
curl https://sandbox.perfectpay.ai/payments \
  -X POST \
  -H "api-key: YOUR_SECRET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "amount": 2499,
    "currency": "USD",
    "payment_method": "card",
    "payment_method_type": "debit",
    "capture_method": "automatic",
    "customer_acceptance": {
      "acceptance_type": "offline",
      "offline": {
        "terminal_id": "term_abc123"
      }
    },
    "confirm": true,
    "return_url": "https://example.com/receipt"
  }'

The customer_acceptance.acceptance_type of "offline" signals that this is a customer-present transaction. The terminal ID links the payment to the physical device that captured the card data.

Use Cases

Restaurants

  • Tableside payment -- servers bring a mobile terminal to the table
  • Counter service -- countertop terminal at the register
  • Tipping -- adjust the authorized amount after the initial tap
  • Split checks -- create multiple payments against the same order

Restaurants benefit from PerfectPay's instant settlement capabilities to improve cash flow on daily sales.

Retail

  • Multi-lane checkout -- each lane runs its own terminal through PerfectPay
  • Self-checkout kiosks -- unattended terminals with the same routing and failover
  • Omnichannel -- a single merchant account handles both in-store and online, with unified reporting

Events and Pop-ups

  • Tap-to-phone -- accept contactless payments with just a phone, no extra hardware
  • Mobile card readers -- lightweight Bluetooth readers for temporary setups

Operational Notes

  • Customer-present transactions typically see lower interchange rates than card-not-present
  • EMV chip and contactless transactions shift liability to the issuer, reducing chargeback risk
  • Magnetic stripe fallback should be disabled unless required by your market
  • Always test terminal flows in sandbox before going live -- use the testing guide

Next Steps