Card-present
Also known as: CP, Card present transaction
A card-present transaction is one where the card and the cardholder are physically at the merchant's premises or acceptance device, read by chip, tap or swipe. It is generally lower risk than card-not-present.
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Example
A customer taps a card on a terminal at the counter of a bakery. The card was read by the device, in front of the cashier. That is card-present.
If you can see the card and the person, it is card-present. If you cannot, it is not.
Visa's rules define a card-present environment by three conditions. The card and the cardholder are physically present at the merchant's premises, a merchant without a fixed location, or an unattended cardholder-activated terminal. The transaction is completed using an acceptance device or a manual imprint device. And it does not use a stored credential.
In practice that means chip and PIN, a tap on a terminal, a swipe, or a number keyed in at the counter.
Why it matters. A chip-read card-present payment carries the strongest evidence and lower fraud risk. Keyed entry loses that advantage. Schemes and acquirers treat card-present and card-absent as different cases.
A number keyed in at the counter still counts. With the customer standing there, it is card-present under Visa's rules. But no chip was read, so the merchant loses its strongest evidence if fraud is disputed. Key the number in over the phone, and it is card-absent.
A regular's saved card does not count, even when you know the face. A card stored and used again is a stored credential, so the Visa definition puts it in the card-absent environment.
The test is simple. Are the card and the holder both there, and did the sale go through an acceptance device or a manual imprint? If not, see card-not-present.