What is the difference between card-present and card-not-present activity?¶
Card-present activity usually means the card or a linked device was used at a physical payment terminal. Card-not-present activity means the payment was made without the physical card being presented to the merchant.
Avoid this assumption: Card-present proves the cardholder was physically there, while card-not-present proves the card was used online by an offender.
Card-present transactions may use chip-and-PIN, contactless, magnetic stripe, manual entry at a terminal or a mobile wallet.
Card-not-present transactions may occur through websites, applications, telephone orders, recurring payments or stored merchant credentials.
The distinction helps identify what evidence may exist. A card-present transaction may generate terminal ID, merchant location, authentication method, CCTV and receipt records.
A card-not-present transaction may generate IP addresses, device or browser data, account login records, delivery details, one-time-passcode events and merchant account records.
But neither category identifies the user on its own.
A stolen card may be used in person. A cardholder may allow someone else to use it. Card details may be used online without possession of the physical card.
A mobile-wallet payment may appear card-present even though the physical card was not used.
Recurring or merchant-initiated transactions may appear card-not-present without fresh customer action.
Preserve the transaction classification, terminal or merchant identifiers, authentication details, card or token information, dates, times and references.
Ask the issuer or processor what field was used to classify the transaction and whether tokenisation or stored credentials were involved.
When reporting, describe the payment route and method rather than assuming personal presence or absence.
Operational takeaway¶
Use card-present and card-not-present classifications to direct enquiries, but prove the actual user through merchant, device, authentication and contextual evidence.