How the Gravity Payments Virtual Terminal Works
July 12, 2026
By Lena Ortiz, merchant-support documentation editor (editorial persona based on a nine-year payments-support profile)
Last reviewed: July 12, 2026
Gravity Payments merchants can use the Virtual Terminal inside Gravity Dashboard to process a Sale, Authorization, Capture/Force, Void or Refund without a countertop terminal. Check the transaction type and business location before submitting anything, because an authorization is not a completed sale and a batched payment can no longer be voided.
This independent article is not operated by Gravity Payments and cannot access, process or reverse a merchant’s transactions.
What is the Gravity Payments Virtual Terminal?
A virtual terminal is a browser-based payment screen where an authorized business user manually enters a payment rather than reading the physical card through a terminal. Gravity says its version can run on a computer, tablet or smartphone with an internet connection and an eligible merchant account.
Gravity Dashboard also provides transaction history, batch reporting, statements and payment-management tools. The company’s Merchant Logins page identifies Gravity Dashboard as the route for merchants who need the Virtual Terminal, monthly statements and batch reports.
Manually entered payments are treated as card-not-present transactions. That classification affects pricing, fraud exposure and the information a merchant should collect during the payment conversation.
Open the correct account and location
After signing in to Gravity Dashboard, select Virtual Terminal from the left control panel. The available tabs include:
- Sale
- Auth
- Capture/Force
- Void/Refund
A user with access to several locations should confirm the intended account before processing or reversing a payment. Gravity’s void instructions place location selection before the Void/Refund screen, which means a transaction can appear missing when the user is viewing another business location.
Check location first. Skip a second payment until the original account and transaction history have been searched.
Why the Virtual Terminal menu may be missing
The Virtual Terminal must be enabled for the merchant account, and the individual Dashboard user needs an appropriate permission in addition to a Merchant Admin or Merchant User role.
Gravity defines two Virtual Terminal permission levels:
| Permission | Published access |
|---|---|
| Virtual Terminal Admin | Processes Virtual Terminal transactions, including open refunds |
| Virtual Terminal User | Processes sales, authorizations, captures, voids and refunds tied to previous transactions |
| Merchant Admin or Merchant User alone | Does not automatically provide Virtual Terminal access |
A Virtual Terminal User cannot process an open refund, according to Gravity’s February 2026 user-settings documentation. Payment Link access must also be enabled separately when the employee needs to create or send hosted payment requests.
This is a permissions problem, not necessarily a login problem. Ask the account’s Merchant Admin to inspect the assigned role before changing passwords or creating another user.
Sale, authorization or capture?
The most consequential choice appears before the payment is entered.
Sale
Choose Sale when the business is ready to charge the customer and include the transaction in its normal settlement workflow. Gravity’s screen asks for the amount, payment details and billing information before Confirm and Process is selected.
When surcharging has been configured for the account, Gravity says a notification appears instructing the employee to inform a credit-card customer about the surcharge. Surcharging rules and availability vary by account and payment type.
Authorization
Choose Auth when the business needs approval for an amount without completing the sale immediately. Gravity recommends capturing the authorization within 48 hours. Attempts made later may lead to higher processing costs, declines, chargeback exposure or other processing errors.
An approval is not a deposit.
Do not submit a second Sale because an authorization does not appear in the bank. The original authorization must be captured when the business is ready to complete it.
Capture or Force
Open Capture/Force to view previously authorized transactions, locate the intended payment and select Capture.
Capture the matching authorization rather than creating an unrelated sale. Gravity’s card-brand fee guide lists a $0.09 misuse-of-authorization fee when an authorized transaction has no matching settled sale and a $0.20 zero-floor-limit fee when a settled transaction cannot be connected to a proper authorization. These are card-brand fee descriptions, not a quote of every charge that will appear on every Gravity account.
Void before settlement, refund afterward
Gravity’s Virtual Terminal page says a void can be performed only during the first 20 minutes of the transaction. Its separate tutorial adds another practical limit: the Void button is unavailable once the transaction has batched, at which point the merchant must use a refund.
Open Void/Refund, adjust the date range or search for the payment, then select the available action. Gravity’s dedicated void instructions allow a search by the limited card reference displayed in Dashboard or by the authorization ID.
Use this order:
- Confirm the business location.
- Find the original transaction.
- Check whether Void remains available.
- Void before batching.
- Refund after batching.
No duplicate charge.
A manually keyed open refund is different from refunding a previous transaction and requires the stronger Virtual Terminal Admin permission.
Why an authorization will not capture
Gravity does not publish one universal error list for every failed capture, so unsupported error-code explanations should be avoided.
Start with the facts visible in Dashboard:
- Was the correct location selected?
- Does the authorization appear under Capture/Force?
- Was it created within the previous 48 hours?
- Has the payment already been captured, voided or otherwise changed?
- Does the user possess Virtual Terminal permission?
The 48-hour recommendation deserves priority. An older authorization may decline or carry additional costs even though the original approval looked successful.
Search the transaction history before trying another charge. Gravity Dashboard supports transaction searches using information such as customer or business name, approval code, dollar amount and the limited card reference displayed in the account.
Virtual Terminal pricing may be higher
Gravity’s public pricing page advertises 2.5% plus $0.10 for qualifying in-person transactions. It separately warns that transactions accepted when the customer is not physically present, or transactions connected to software, may not qualify for that rate.
Virtual Terminal payments are card-not-present because the employee manually enters the payment instead of reading the card through an in-person device. Gravity says this category tends to carry higher interchange costs because it presents greater fraud risk.
Confirm the account’s card-not-present pricing before using the Virtual Terminal as a permanent replacement for countertop processing. It can be useful for telephone orders, invoices, mobile service work and occasional backup payments, but convenience does not establish that the processing cost is identical.
Security at the browser screen
Gravity recommends fraud controls such as Address Verification Service and card verification codes for manually entered transactions. AVS compares billing information with issuer records, while the card verification code helps show that the payer has access to the physical card.
The PCI Security Standards Council defines a virtual payment terminal as browser access to a processor or service-provider site where the merchant manually enters payment data. Unlike a physical terminal, it does not read information directly from the payment card.
Use an authorized business device on a controlled network. Do not place payment information in ordinary notes, chat messages or spreadsheets before entering it into the approved payment screen.
Gravity Dashboard may require multi-factor authentication. Users who sign in without MFA configured are redirected to its setup process, according to the current Dashboard documentation.
Virtual Terminal or Payment Link?
Use the Virtual Terminal when an authorized employee will enter the transaction. Use a Payment Link when the customer should enter the payment through a hosted page.
Gravity lets Dashboard users create single-use or multi-use payment links, provided the feature and user permission are enabled. Links can be sent through supported email or text workflows or copied for another approved delivery method.
A payment link reduces the need for an employee to manually handle payment details. The Virtual Terminal gives the business more control during telephone and mail-order transactions.
Choose the workflow before taking the information.
When to contact Gravity Payments
Contact Gravity when the Virtual Terminal is enabled but missing, an authorization cannot be located, a capture repeatedly fails or the account needs a permission that its Merchant Admin cannot assign.
Gravity publishes 866-701-4700 and describes its multilingual support team as available around the clock.
Have the Merchant ID, business location, transaction amount, authorization ID and approximate transaction time available. Begin from Gravity’s published support channel rather than responding to an unexpected caller asking to control the payment screen.
FAQ
Can I use the Gravity Virtual Terminal on a phone?
Yes. Gravity says a browser-equipped smartphone, tablet or computer can be used with internet access and an eligible merchant account.
Why can I see Dashboard but not Virtual Terminal?
The feature may not be enabled for the merchant account, or the user may lack the separate Virtual Terminal permission. A general Merchant Admin or Merchant User role does not by itself establish access.
What is the difference between Sale and Auth?
A Sale processes the charge for settlement. Auth obtains approval first, while the corresponding Capture completes that authorized transaction later. Gravity recommends capturing within 48 hours.
Can I void a transaction after it batches?
No. Use a refund.
Why can one employee refund a payment but not issue an open refund?
Gravity’s Virtual Terminal User role allows refunds tied to previous transactions but excludes open refunds. Open-refund access belongs to the Virtual Terminal Admin permission.
Does the Virtual Terminal use the 2.5% rate?
Do not assume it does. Gravity limits that advertised rate to qualifying in-person transactions and says card-not-present activity may receive different pricing.
Is a virtual terminal the same as a payment link?
No. With a Virtual Terminal, the merchant enters the transaction. With a Payment Link, the customer completes the hosted payment page. Both depend on account configuration and assigned user permissions.
The reliable workflow is to confirm the location and permission, select Sale or Auth deliberately, capture approved authorizations promptly and search the original transaction before processing any correction.