> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://pivot-payment.gitbook.io/pivot-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://pivot-payment.gitbook.io/pivot-docs/virtual-terminal/get-started.md).
# Get Started
## What is a Virtual Terminal
Virtual Terminal lets hotels charge cards without a physical card reader. Hotels can use it in two ways:
* Web dashboard: staff log in from a browser, enter the VCC details (manually, in bulk if needed) and the booking reference, and submit the charge.
* API: the hotel's own system sends the VCC charges to Pivot programmatically.
Either way, no hardware is needed.
Where VCC OTA comes in. Hotels with allotment on global OTAs (Agoda, Booking.com, Trip.com, Expedia) are usually paid with Virtual Credit Cards. A VCC is a single-use card the OTA issues for one booking, and the hotel never sees the guest's own card details. The hotel has to charge that card to receive its money.
The problem is that most hotels charge these cards on consumer-grade EDC machines or payment gateways that were not built for OTA cards. The results are frequent declines, manual retries, unclear failure reasons, and finance teams reconciling booking by booking.
**Pivot Virtual Terminal is built for this one job**. Each charge is submitted with its booking reference and processed as a card-not-present (MOTO) transaction. Hotels can link each VCC to its Booking ID, and funds settle to the hotel's Pivot balance in D+2 calendar days.
## Fund Flow
The diagram above shows the flow between the three stakeholders.
1. **Traveler → OTA.** The traveler books and pays the OTA the gross rate, using a card, wallet, local payment method and so on.
2. **OTA → Property.** The OTA sends the property a VCC. The amount loaded on the VCC is the net rate, meaning the OTA fee has already been deducted.
3. **Property → Pivot VT.** The property enters the VCC through the web dashboard, or submits it via API, with the Booking ID.
4. **Pivot VT → VCC issuer / card network.** Pivot submits the charge as a MOTO transaction. The OTA funds the card, so on approval the money moves to the property's side.
5. **Settlement.** Funds land in the hotel's Pivot balance in D+2 calendar days, with the booking ID and payment ID stored for reconciliation.
## How VCC OTA was charged before
**The previous way:**
1. Copy the VCC number, expiry, and CVV from the OTA extranet.
2. Key it into a regular EDC machine or a general-purpose payment gateway.
3. If it declines, retry manually, often without knowing why.
4. Wait for settlement.
5. Match payments to bookings by hand.
**Pain today vs Pivot answer**
| Pain today | Pivot answer |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| VCC declines on regular EDC/PG | Dedicated OTA VCC processing flow, separate from consumer card routing, for higher success rates |
| "Transaction failed" with no reason | Every failed charge comes with a clear, actionable reason |
| Daily charging limits on consumer rails, and false blocks from fraud detection (FDS) | No daily limit, protected by travel-specific fraud controls |
| Slow settlement hurts cash flow (EDC is D+1, but PGs are usually D+3 to D+5) | Fast settlement to the hotel's Pivot balance in D+2 calendar days |
| Manual reconciliation | Dashboard stores booking ID and payment ID, and VCCs can be linked to the Booking ID, for easier reconciliation |
