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Operations · Glossary

Card-present

Also called: CP, in-person transaction

Card-present (CP) is any transaction where the card and cardholder are physically at the point of sale and the card is dipped, tapped, or swiped. CP transactions carry lower interchange than card-not-present because fraud risk is lower.

Why this matters to merchants

Card-presentsits inside the broader system of U.S. payment processing economics that determine a merchant’s effective rate. Most operators encounter this term on their merchant statement without understanding what it controls, which is how the four hidden fees covered by our methodology slip past unnoticed.

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