# CVM (cardholder verification method)

https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/cvm/

*Last updated: 2026-08-03*

How a transaction confirms the person paying is entitled to the card: a PIN, a signature, the phone's own biometric, or nothing at all below a contactless threshold. Which one applies is decided by the card, the terminal and the amount together, not by the merchant — which is why the same card sometimes asks for a PIN and sometimes does not.

## Why it matters to a merchant

Worth explaining to counter staff once, because it removes an entire category of unnecessary conversation. Whether a customer is asked for a PIN is not something the shop chose and not a sign that anything is wrong; it is decided by the card, the terminal and the amount together. Staff who know that stop apologising for it.

## Related terms

*At the counter*

- [Card present / card not present](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/card-present/)
- [EMV](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/emv/)
- [Contactless](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/contactless/)
- [Merchant-presented QR / consumer-presented QR](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/merchant-presented-qr/)
- [Smart terminal](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/smart-terminal/)
- [MCC (merchant category code)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/mcc/)
- [Magnetic stripe](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/magnetic-stripe/)
- [Consumer-presented QR](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/consumer-presented-qr/)
- [MID (merchant ID)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/mid/)
- [Tap to phone (SoftPOS)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/tap-to-phone/)
- [Tip adjust](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/tip-adjust/)

- [All 74 terms](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/)

---

*This is the Markdown mirror of https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/cvm/, generated from the same source as the page itself. The whole site in one file: https://www.uniwebpay.com/llms-full.txt · What this company is, for answer engines: https://www.uniwebpay.com/llms.txt*