We tested leading online payment processors for cost, features, integrations, security, compliance, and customer support. See our picks for the best online payment processing services.
Expert reviewer: Elsier Otachi, E-commerce and business strategy consultant
Expert editor: Amy Nichol Smith, E-commerce and marketing expert
Updated December 13, 2022
The Best Online Payment Processing Services of 2023
Easy integration with popular e-commerce, accounting, and point of sale (POS) platforms
Payment processing services are necessary for online business. The best payment processors boost your sales and revenue while offering a simple experience for you and your customers.
We researched 10 leading providers, testing each using mock accounts, watched demos, and evaluated real user reviews. Also, we’ve compared their transaction fees, features, and support options.
We recommend you consider online payment services on the below criteria, your business sales volumes, and overall payment needs.
I’m a professional B2B writer covering business strategy, marketing, and tech. I have over eight years of experience in corporate communications and new media. My expertise is writing for global clients and industries, particularly business, e-commerce, and technology, including e-commerce platforms and online payment processing services.
How I Rated the Best Online Payment Processing Service Providers
I rated online payment processing service providers based on transaction costs, pricing structure, customer support, integrations, payment and customization options, and security and compliance.
Whether you’re starting a new venture from the ground up or expanding your brick-and-mortar business to accept online payments, there are a few essential things to consider so you’re fully equipped to meet your customers’ needs.
Here are the five key factors I considered for ratings.
Transaction costs
I look at the overall costs of the processing service, which includes setup costs and fees for transactions (interchange, assessment, processor/acquirer, merchant), monthly subscription, charge-backs, membership, cancellation, and payment card industry (PCI) compliance.
Each player in the payment chain takes their cut, which raises the total cost per transaction. That’s why I dig deeper to pick out any hidden fees in the processor’s fine print, which can include batch processing fees, merchant-to-bank fund transfer fees, statement fees, and more. Some processors might “waive” some fees to get your business, then sneak them back in after the promotional period.
Pricing structure
I also consider the pricing structure or model to go with when choosing a payment processing service. Pricing models typically fall within the following categories:
Interchange plus: This model includes fees paid to the card issuer — like Bank of America — who gets paid a percentage per sale. You’ll pay an additional fee plus the interchange amount; for example, you’d pay a 2% interchange rate plus 30 cents per transaction. This is typically more cost-effective than the flat-rate model, but the costs vary significantly per transaction owing to monthly fees and volume minimums.
Flat-rate: The credit card processing service charges a flat rate for all credit card transactions, regardless of the interchange rate. For instance, you could pay 3% plus 25 cents for online purchases. While this model ensures predictable costs, you may pay higher than the Interchange Plus model for high sales volumes.
Tiered: This structure combines aspects of the Interchange Plus and Flat-Rate models, categorizing them into tiers or buckets, then assigning costs to each tier. For instance, on a $55 purchase, the fees could range from 2% to 3%, depending on the tier. Tiered model rates are predictable and easier to understand since they’re bundled into categories, but the overall costs can be higher than other pricing structures.
Subscription: Pricing models based on subscriptions are often the best choice for merchants. These are automatic payments on a monthly or annual schedule in exchange for the direct cost of interchange and are charged until you withdraw permission or cancel your subscription. So, no matter how much you process, you’ll only worry about the flat membership and direct cost of the cards you process.
Customer support
A payment processing solution is of no use if it’s unreliable or difficult to understand for me and my customers. For this reason, I looked for processors that provide strong merchant support for quicker issue resolution.
Payment, integration, and customization options
I also gave more points to a payment processor that supports a wide range of payment methods and currencies.
Some options I considered include whether the processor supports all major debit and credit cards, digital wallets, and online payments, payment links, QR code payments, invoicing, and recurring billing options, which help serve even more clients.
I also included service providers with modern Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and software development kits (SDKs) for fast, seamless integration with existing business apps. When making this decision ask yourself:
Can my business leverage the provider’s third-party integrations?
Does the platform have robust analytics reporting features to check customer activity, volumes, and residuals?
Can the provider onboard merchants in-app via customizable enrollment flows?
Finally, I looked at the level of customizations available, which would give me full control over the branding elements of my business, like logos, fonts, color schemes, and more. For instance, some of the online payment services I reviewed allow white-label payment options, making it easier to create or use my brand images and colors instead of the providers’ logos.
Security and compliance
Online payments must be secure and compliant with industry security standards to cut our list to protect customers against card fraud and data breaches.
As I evaluated the best online payment processing services, I considered secure, reliable options compliant with applicable security and safe regulations in the industry or country I’d want to work with, such as:
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS): Set of security standards that ensure credit card payment processing companies maintain a secure environment.
SSAE 18 SOC 1: Informs your customers about the controls in place to protect customers’ financial data and statements.
SSAE18 SOC 2: Reports on the credibility and accuracy of the system’s design and how effective their controls are to safeguard customers’ financial data.
SSAE18 SOC 3: Assures customers about the service’s security, availability, privacy, and processing integrity confidentiality controls.
Transport Layer Security (TLS): Combines cryptographic processes to offer secure communication over the internet.
NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) compliance: Adherence to NIST best practices and security standards for data protection, particularly for the government and its contractors.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Facilitates the use of at least two verification factors before users can access your application or their online accounts, rather than just asking for usernames or passwords.
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES): Uses ciphers of 128 192, or 256 bits, to encrypt sensitive data and protect classified or electronic information.
Tokenization: Replacing sensitive data like credit card numbers, with tokens while storing them securely in a centralized location for subsequent reference.
I also checked whether the provider supports tokenization to avoid handling customers’ sensitive payment data directly, along with anti-fraud and charge-back prevention controls.
Shopify’s integrated online payment processing service helps e-commerce businesses host and process customer payments, among other functions. You get competitive processing rates, the ability to sell in 133 currencies, strong security and analytics, and excellent 24/7 customer support.
Pricing structure: Flat rate depending on the plan you’re subscribed to
Integrations: Over 100 other payment providers globally
Security and compliance: Level 1 PCI DSS compliant, two-step authentication, Transport Layer Security (TLS)
Shopify Payments service makes it easy to set up and receive online payments.
We rated Shopify as our best overall because it’s simple to set up and use, so you won’t struggle with third-party merchant accounts or payment providers. The platform also offers transparent yet competitive transaction fees. It has a seamless checkout experience for customers and organizes your sales and payment information in its ecosystem.
Once you create your Shopify store, you can set up all major payment methods automatically and start accepting payments online. The service isn’t available in all countries, though, and the multiple currency feature is limited to stores using the Shopify platform.
An Automatic Dispute Resolution is available in case you get unnecessary charge-backs.
Security is guaranteed as Shopify stores automatically meet PCI DSS compliance standards. It also supports online and recurring payments and integrates with popular marketing and accounting apps, and major e-commerce platforms.
Who is Shopify best for?
We recommend Shopify for omnichannel sellers looking for a quick way of accepting online payments. If you’re just starting out or are already in business but want to set up an e-commerce store, you won’t go wrong with Shopify Payments.
Shopify’s strong analytics and reporting features help you easily review your store’s performance.
Recent upgrades to Shopify
Shopify constantly updates its platform by adding new features and payment options, making it accessible to new markets and countries. The company recently added:
BNPL options, which allow your customers to pay in monthly installments of up to 12 months or four interest-free biweekly payments
Due on fulfillment for B2B orders
Custom pricing by market on all plans
Branding customization for new customer accounts and consistent checkout experiences
Shopify Tax option (if you’re selling within the U.S.) that lets you collect the right sales tax amount at the right time
Purchase options to Shopify’s Selling Plan API so your customers can try products before buying
Shopify pricing
If you’re a Shopify store owner, there are no added transaction fees for orders processed via Shopify Payments, Shop Pay Installments, Shop Pay, and PayPal Express. However, you’ll pay transaction fees ranging from 2.4% plus 0 cents to 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction. If you use third-party payment processors, an additional fee varies depending on your plan — Shopify Starter (5%), Shopify Basic (2%), Shopify (1%), and Shopify Advanced (0.5%).
Pros and cons of Shopify
Pros
Transparent transaction fees
Strong analytics, security, and compliance
24/7 customer support
Cons
Not available in all countries
Requires monthly fee to use the service besides transaction and third-party gateway fees
Only stores using it as the primary gateway can process payments in their customers’ local currencies
Stripe is a unified platform that provides a suite of products to power payments for online businesses. The payment processor applies a tech-first approach to help business owners send invoices, issue virtual cards, reduce checkout friction, manage your business spending, and beat fraud.
Integrations: Works with over 135 consulting and technology partner services
Security and compliance: PCI DSS Level 1, PSD2 and Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) compliant, SSAE18/SOC 1 type 1 and type 2, SSAE18/SOC 2 type 1 and type 2 reports, UK and EU e-money licenses.
In Stripe’s dashboard, you can tweak the interface for a branded checkout experience.
If you want to truly tailor your online payment experience for your customers, Stripe offers the best options. That includes customizing the invoicing and payment processes with your brand elements (logo, colors, fonts, shapes), and tweaking the interface in the Stripe dashboard to provide a branded checkout experience in your store. Plus, you can design custom payment forms using Stripe Elements, or change a checkout page’s name and customize its domain name, too.
I liked that Stripe supports processing international payments in more than 135 currencies, meaning you can charge customers in their native currency and receive funds in yours.
Its out-of-the-box integrations with top e-commerce platforms help you streamline your checkout process and set up customer payments with several options, such as custom payment forms and custom invoices.
And with Stripe Connect, you can collect payments online and get paid in over 30 countries with a single platform. You can also add payments to your platform for free using Standard Connect, and process charges on your own.
Who is Stripe best for?
Our testing showed that Stripe works best for online businesses (subscription, software, marketplaces) and large companies wanting more payment options, like recurring payments and subscriptions.
Stripe Connect offers a powerful API and tools for accepting online payments.
Recent upgrades to Stripe
Recent updates include adding embedded financial services like lending, financial accounts, and cards, and global crypto payouts for Connect that allow a select group of creators on Twitter to use crypto-based rails to get their earnings via Twitter.
Fast-growing Software as a service (SaaS) businesses can take advantage of Stripe’s new Revenue Recognition feature, which offers insightful reporting, automatic updates on all transitions and payment changes, and the ability to import non-Stripe transactions. You won’t need technical expertise to integrate it with Stripe Billing, Stripe Invoicing, and other apps in the payments platform.
Stripe pricing
Stripe’s flat-rate, pay-as-you-go pricing structure is designed to suit businesses of all sizes.
Stripe offers Integrated and Customized plans. Transaction fees for its Integrated plan are 2.9% plus 30 cents per successful card charge, while the Customized plan is tailored for unique business models, high-value transactions, or large payments volume.
Pros and cons of Stripe
Pros
Good API customizations
No setup or monthly fees
Variety of payment methods and customer support options
Cons
It can have a steep learning curve
Flat-rate model is costlier with high sales volumes
Transaction costs: 2.9% plus 30 cents per successful card charge
Customer support
Online chat, phone, email
Integrations
Works with over 135 consulting and technology partner services
Security and compliance
PCI DSS Level 1, PSD2 and Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) compliant, SSAE18/SOC 1 type 1 and type 2, SSAE18/SOC 2 type 1 and type 2 reports, UK and EU e-money licenses.
Square is best known for its suite of business software and POS systems, but the service also offers its customers easier ways to collect payments online with no extra fees or long-term contracts. You can also access a complete suite of tools to grow your business, including Square Online — a robust platform that covers your store, inventory, order fulfillment, customers, and more.
Pricing structure: Flat-rate
Customer support: Phone, email, Square Communities Forum, and messaging within the app.
Integrations: Square Online integrates with popular marketing, inventory management, and shipping tools
Security and compliance: Square Secure, PCI compliant, two-step verification, Risk Manager (detect fraud and prevent loss), and other industry-leading ISO 27001 certified measures.
Square’s simple dashboard offers quick insights, as well as free advanced analytics and sales reports.
Square’s business tools help you accept payments quickly and get paid fast. Unlike other online payment services, it also connects with your social media accounts, which allows you to sell wherever your customers hang out online, boost your store’s discovery, and increase sales.
Like Shopify, Square Online comes with its payment processing service — Square Online Checkout — which lets you accept payment almost anywhere. A transaction fee applies whenever you make a sale.
You can offer your customers fast and easy checkout through a customized page, offer subscriptions, collect tips, and accept payments with digital wallets or in installments with Afterpay.
I particularly liked the format options: buy buttons, QR codes, or payment links. They can be customized to suit my business and share with my customers via email, text, social media, or my website.
Square integrates with marketing, inventory management, business POS systems, and shipping tools, making it easier for you to track payments and fulfill orders with Square Online Checkout.
Square’s support is available for its customers via email, phone (6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PST), or online chat. The online support assistant was helpful, but I couldn’t access a human agent outside of support hours.
While email support was available 24/7, I waited anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to get a response — sometimes longer, depending on when I sent my query. That left me with Square’s Seller Community, which is active but not always reliable when you need a quick answer.
Who is Square best for?
We recommend Square for omnichannel sellers, particularly if you also sell through social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
You can set up sales tax for online orders through Square’s Online Payments option.
Recent upgrades to Square
As a Square Online Checkout merchant, you’re eligible for the built-in BNPL option.
Square also introduced the option to accept payments with Afterpay online, meaning customers can pay for purchases over six weeks in four interest-free installments, and you get paid in full immediately. It’s a great way to increase business and boost online sales.
Square Banking is also available for merchants. This service syncs your payments, cash flow, and business banking accounts seamlessly, allowing you to sell, save, spend, and borrow. There’s no opening deposit, minimum balance, overdraft fees, or monthly account fees.
Square pricing
Pricing is fair and transparent. If your business processes less than $250,000 annually, you’ll pay the standard 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction rate, similar to what other online payment services charge.
Pros and cons of Square
Pros
No signup, charge-back, or hidden fees
Doesn’t lock you into any type of contracts
Free website hosting
Makes selling easy on Facebook and Instagram
Cons
Doesn’t work with certain high-risk merchants
Costs can add up for large businesses with high volumes and transactions
Transaction costs: 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction
Customer support
Phone, email, Square Communities Forum, and messaging within the app
Integrations
Square Online integrates with popular marketing, inventory management, and shipping tools
Security and compliance
Square Secure, PCI compliant, two-step verification, Risk Manager (detect fraud and prevent loss), and other industry-leading ISO 27001 certified measures.
Since 2014, Stax has provided businesses across the U.S. with payment technology solutions to process payments at scale with minimal costs. The flexible platform provides a simple flat-rate monthly subscription to process payments and cover transaction processing and interchange costs.
Integrations: Slack, QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, Mailchimp, Asana, Wrike, and other popular business apps to automate your workflow
Security and compliance: Level 1 PCI Service Provider, end-to-end encryption and tokenization, TLS1.3, and GDPR compliance
Stax offers detailed reports about payment methods, sales, item categories, deposits, and more, so you can keep a pulse on your store’s status and financial health.
This platform is for small and large businesses to accept payments online. You can connect your entire payments experience and manage your business from one unified dashboard.
What I like about Stax is it eliminates the need to work with multiple vendors because I get everything I need under one roof. I can run my entire business with Stax.
Plus, Stax integrates with customizable tools, which enhance your business. You can also access advanced insights for better decision-making, and ultimately, increase your profits and maximize revenue.
Stax also offers pre-built carts, which you can activate with one click and process online orders. Alternatively, you can use Stax developer tools to build custom shopping carts that integrate into your store.
Who is Stax best for?
Stax works for small but actively growing businesses with steady high-volume sales (at least $20,000 per month) that benefit from a set monthly fee. While Stax offers a subscription-based pricing structure that covers transaction processing, its fees (monthly and charge-back) aren’t cost-effective for small businesses with low-volume sales.
You can accept payments from customers using international credit cards or via your website payment links.
Recent upgrades to Stax
Stax is committed to empowering businesses to move faster, think smarter, and make better decisions. The company continues to upgrade its payment technology and solutions to better represent this commitment and meet the future needs of every business. Some of its recent updates include:
Upgraded Level 2 processing
Fully re-envisioned mobile dashboard experience
Push notifications for daily deposits
Comparison stats for sales and refunds
Reliable credit surcharging
Stax pricing
Stax’s pricing plans may be quite expensive for low-volume sales businesses compared to top competitors, whose monthly fees range from $0 to $60. Some features, like the Level 2 processing, are only available in higher plans as an add-on. Stax also offers custom pricing for businesses processing over $500,000 per year, making it an excellent choice for large- volume transactions.
Pros and cons of Stax
Pros
Integrates with accounting tools
No markup on interchange rates
Subscription fees are inclusive of transaction processing
No hidden fees or contract cancellation charges
Cons
Lengthy merchant application and setup process
High monthly subscription costs
Unsuitable for small businesses with low-volume sales
Helcim offers a world-class payments solution that lets you accept payments from more customers. You don’t have to worry about monthly fees, outsourcing, expensive developers, web servers, complicated code, or plug-ins. Plus, you benefit from Helcim’s fast deposits, lower rates, and automatic volume discounts.
Integrations: Works with accounting software, shopping carts, and billing tools, including QuickBooks and e-commerce platforms
Security and compliance: Firewalls and Intrusion Detection (IDS) and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), regular data backups, PCI DSS and NIST compliant, multi-factor authentication, password protection, and 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
Helcim is an all-in-one payment processing service with free tools, including invoicing, online checkout, payment links, card vault, SMS payments, QR codes, and others, to grow your business.
The service syncs your customer data (billing, shipping, credit card, and bank account details) automatically to your merchant account while updating your inventory.
Its low, transparent rates and Interchange Plus pricing are a favorite of fast-growing and established businesses.
I particularly liked its volume discounts, which lower processing fees as transaction volumes go up, without having to negotiate rates with the company. This feature is ideal for fast-growing and established businesses doing heavy volumes, so startups or small businesses processing under $20,000-$25,000 may find it expensive to start and maintain.
And you can use Helcim’s borderless payment processing to accept and receive international credit card payments in your local currency.
Who is Helcim best for?
I found that Helcim works best for fast-growing and established businesses processing at least $25,000 per month. If you’re looking for better ways to accept online payments and get paid faster, at the lowest rate possible, Helcim is worth considering. You don’t have to negotiate rates for volume discounts, because it automatically reduces the cost as your volumes increase.
Helcim provides clean, easy-to-read, and concise merchant statements clearly listing the processing fee, interchange cost, and card brand network costs by section.
Recent upgrades to Helcim
Like other payment processors, Helcim also regularly upgrades its solution to offer the best services to its customers.
Offering small businesses every possible edge to thrive, the company recently kicked off a partnership with Xero, popular accounting software, integrating its credit card payments into Xero invoices. If using Xero you can request and accept payments effortlessly while benefiting from Helcim’s pricing model.
New features, including a sync between Helcim and Xero accounts and the ability to pay invoices via Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments, will also be added to the integration.
Helcimpricing
Helcim prides itself in offering honest, transparent pricing that saves you money — no monthly fees, contracts, or hidden charges. You get free e-commerce, hosting, international credit card processing, and the latest technology and tools to accept payments and grow your business.
Transaction costs: From 0.30% plus 8 cents per transaction
Customer support
Phone, email, live chat/support assistant
Integrations
Works with accounting software, shopping carts, and billing tools, including QuickBooks and e-commerce platforms
Security and compliance
Firewalls and Intrusion Detection (IDS) and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), regular data backups, PCI DSS and NIST compliant, multi-factor authentication, password protection, and 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
Features
Automatic volume-based discount pricing
Detailed merchant and business statements
Customer-facing portal for subscription management
Amazon also has an online payment processor — Amazon Pay (formerly Amazon Payments), which offers quick, friendly, and secure checkouts. Shoppers can pay for orders using the information in their Amazon accounts or use Alexa to pay by voice.
Pricing structure: Flat-rate
Customer support: Live chat, online form, phone (toll-free line)
Integrations: Works with website builders, e-commerce platforms, shopping carts, and marketplaces.
Security and compliance: PCI DSS compliance, machine learning to identify risky attempters, and Card Verification Value (CVV), one-time passcode or biometric for user verification.
Amazon Pay is a quick and secure option for your customers to check out online. You can add the payment processing platform to your website and pay flat-rate transaction fees without monthly or startup costs.
Enable the Amazon Pay button to make payment processing easier for your customers with one click and checkouts. Transactions are safe and secure, and you can access payment history in your Seller Central dashboard to review your business’s performance.
The platform gives your customers more ways to pay for their purchases thanks to its mobile, online, and Alexa devices or voice payments features.
One of Amazon Pay’s biggest selling points is that you can add it to your store or social selling and other platforms so customers can purchase from you with their Amazon accounts. They’ll also feel more secure purchasing at your store without entering all their credit card details on a separate site.
I found Amazon Pay’s merchant signup easier and faster than Helcim or Stax, but its long approval process can take weeks before you can put it on your site.
Amazon also subjects all accounts to a tiered reserve. The company sets aside and holds a portion of your processing funds, after which it’ll take three to five business days to reflect in your bank account. This can be frustrating as it eats into your cash flow, especially when you’re not expecting it.
Other than that, you get analytics reporting tools, security and fraud management, recurring payments, charge-back controls, and risk management processes for free.
Who is Amazon best for?
We recommend Amazon Pay as a supplemental option because it’s designed to be used by shoppers with Amazon accounts. The solution also works best when you want to manage international payments, reduce cart abandonment, and enable voice payments so shoppers can buy from your store through Alexa devices.
You can add the Amazon Pay button to your site for an easier and friendlier checkout experience.
Recent upgrades to Amazon
Amazon Pay now allows its customers to use Venmo at checkout. This development comes after the company announced its partnership with Venmo to provide it as a payment option for Amazon purchases for all its U.S.-based customers.
This adds to the platform’s convenience, security, and ease of use over other payment processors with fewer payment options.
Amazon pricing
For businesses, Amazon Pay’s flat-rate 2.9% plus 30 cents transaction fee, which includes domestic processing fees, authorization fees, and tax (where applicable). The processing fee depends on whether you are accepting cross-border or local payments and only applies to successfully authorized and processed purchases.
Pros and cons of Amazon
Pros
Security for customer data and dispute resolution through Amazon Pay A-to-z Guarantee
Quick and easy integration
No setup required
Works seamlessly across devices
Cons
Long merchant account approval time
Can delay fund transfers for new merchant accounts
Transaction costs: 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction
Customer support
Live chat, online form, phone (toll-free line)
Integrations
Works with website builders, e-commerce platforms, shopping carts, and marketplaces
Security and compliance
PCI DSS compliance, machine learning to identify risky attempters, and Card Verification Value (CVV), one-time passcode or biometric for user verification
Features
Recurring payments/checkout
Seamless checkout
Voice commerce
Read More
Clover
Best for established businesses
4.0
Integration with best-in-class apps and e-commerce platforms
Clover is owned by Fiserv — a payments and fintech service provider. The platform offers small and medium-sized business (SMB) owners commerce-enabling solutions and applications for a seamless customer-merchant experience. From credit and debit cards to mobile wallets, Clover allows you to accept payments however your customers want to pay — in all of their native currencies.
Integrations: Works with multiple online store solutions, including WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Ecwid, and Shopify
Security and compliance: End-to-end encryption; PCI compliant
Clover is an intuitive, feature-rich, and versatile payment processing service that streamlines your checkout process, making it easier for your customers.
You don’t need to buy Clover’s POS hardware or credit card terminal to use the online payment option. That means you can process payments for all major credit and debit cards on any device, invoice your customers and get paid faster via the online portal, or through recurring payments to get paid regularly.
You can create trending reports on fast-moving items, sales, daily totals, and open orders. Plus, Clover’s integration with best-in-class apps like QuickBooks makes it easier to keep your books up to date.
Clover doesn’t limit you to using its partner e-commerce platforms for your business. You can easily integrate it with your existing site, then use its developer tools to further customize.
What I like about using Clover partner platforms like BigCommerce or WooCommerce is the real-time inventory updates as transactions happen online and the ability to manage everything from one platform.
You can get many Clover features with its basic paid plan, except the website builder function, a paid add-on.
Who is Clover best for?
We recommend Clover for small and growing businesses needing a simple online presence and Interchange Plus pricing. Clover offers commerce-enabling features that empower you to grow your business.
But it might not be the best option for fast-moving inventory or if you’re a casual seller as the transaction fees may be costly with higher volumes. Shopify or Square offer similar features and lower transaction fees.
You can reach more customers through your store and other public marketplaces using Clover’s online payment system and partnership with BigCommerce.
Recent upgrades to Clover
Clover also receives updates to its features, back end, and apps. Some changes include an improved App Market layout, new top navigation, improved search functionality, and sorting and filtering options. All these are designed to encourage merchant engagement and help you easily find apps relevant to your needs.
The company also reorganized app categories, which you can update on the Developer Dashboard to suit your customers. Third-party and Clover apps you’ve installed are displayed along with the developer’s name and merchant subscription so you can rate or uninstall the app, or change your subscription.
Clover also has an updated payments screen for its POS devices with impactful tweaks, but the payment functionality remains the same.
Cloverpricing
As a Clover merchant, you’ll pay monthly software fees and processing rates for each transaction. The first 30 days are free, after which fees start at $9.95, based on your type of business. You’ll pay 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction for payments taken virtually, depending on your business.
For instance, retail businesses taking online payments will incur a 3.5% plus 10 cents per transaction fee, which can make Clover costlier than platforms with similar offerings like Square.
Pros and cons of Clover
Pros
Good for small and growing businesses
Easy and quick setup
Offers 30-day trial period
Integrates with Ecwid, Shopify, WooCommerce, and Bigcommerce
PaymentCloud serves businesses in medium and high-risk sectors, offering online payment services, countless integrations, level 1 and 2 processing, and anti-fraud tools, among other features. There’s no application or setup fee to open a PaymentCloud account, but the process is lengthy owing to the high-risk nature of businesses it supports.
Pricing structure: Varies based on the type of business
Integrations: Works with popular e-commerce platforms
Security and compliance: PCI DSS, Level 1 and 2 processing, encryption, AVStechnology, tokenization, and authentication protocols — Visa 3D Secure, Mastercard SecureCode, JCB International J/Secure, and American Express SafeKey
Traditional financial institutions and payment processors don’t know how to handle merchants in high-risk industries, such as credit repair, tech support, guns and firearms, dating sites, tobacco, and cigars.
PaymentCloud understands your business and won’t shut you down. The company supports high-risk businesses with services that help them process payments right away. Its hands-on, white-glove approach to the application and setup, quick approvals, and post-setup process ensures you get processing immediately.
I found the application process lengthy and detailed, but that’s how PaymentCloud scrutinizes each high-risk merchant that comes on board. The company’s trained merchant service reps ensure you’re clear about the costs, payment processing systems, and products or services that will help you scale your business.
You can accept payments via mobile, online, or credit cards, and set up ACH and eCheck options for direct deposits. PaymentCloud is PCI DSS compliant, offering fraud and charge-back prevention, which defends your business from uncharted charge-backs and fraudulent activity.
Plus, you can integrate your store with the latest shopping cart integrations and access funding through business loans.
Who is PaymentCloud best for?
We found that PaymentCloud serves a host of high-risk merchant service providers, working with firearms, nutraceuticals, electronics, tobacco, and other products. This list includes online seminar providers, nutrition coaching, tech support, software and e-book providers, and more.
Recent upgrades to PaymentCloud
PaymentCloud recently announced its partnership with RocketFuel Blockchain, Inc. This global payment and infrastructure solutions provider for cryptocurrencies helps secure payment processing for all types of businesses (low-risk, high-risk, or hard-to-place).
Through a results-driven approach, the companies will enable vendors and customers to use crypto for e-commerce payments and checkout solutions.
PaymentCloud pricing
PaymentCloud doesn’t publicly disclose its pricing plans or transaction costs on its website because it customizes them based on the business or merchant. For instance, it could work with different pricing models depending on which type you’re familiar with; the costs may be high or low based on the tailored plan. However, the company strives to secure low rates through multiple backend processors.
Pros and cons of PaymentCloud
Pros
Works with high-risk businesses
Integrates with most e-commerce platforms
Quick approvals (up to 48 hours depending on account-related stipulations)
Transaction costs: From 2.90% plus 30 cents; depends on pricing structure
Customer support
Phone, online form
Integrations
Works with popular e-commerce platforms
Security and compliance
PCI DSS, Level 1 and 2 processing, encryption, AVStechnology, tokenization, and authentication protocols — Visa 3D Secure, Mastercard SecureCode, JCB International J/Secure, and American Express SafeKey
Features
Supports high-risk businesses
Multiple integrations with the latest and popular tools
Since 1996, Authorize.net has been simplifying transaction processing for merchants to receive payments via electronic, online, or credit card means. The company is trusted by over 440,000 merchants owing to its easy ways of streamlining payment processing that helps optimize their cash flow.
Authorize.net or Authnet offers both a payment gateway and payment processing option. As a payment gateway, you can select your own merchant service while the latter option offers a flat-rate pricing structure. Whichever you choose, you still pay the monthly $25 gateway fee.
Based on our criteria, we gave Authnet high marks because of its robust payment toolkit and security features.
While those factors make it a top choice for most businesses with online stores, there are a few concerns about held funds. We’ve also seen this with other tools including PaymentCloud and Amazon Pay, though this may not necessarily be directly attributed to Authnet.
You can process international payments in any way that works for your business, and customers can pay via credit or debit cards, digital wallets like Apple Pay or PayPal, and eChecks.
A modern API helps you integrate Authorize.net with other tools and even add a Buy Now button for one-time payments.
Who is Authorize.net best for?
From our research and testing, Authorize.net is suitable for businesses with existing merchant accounts, but you can always set up a new account and start accepting payments online anytime, anywhere.
Authorize.net offers multiple payment options for online transactions, including credit card and digital wallets.
Recent upgrades to Authorize.net
Authorize.net occasionally announces updates to its platforms, but there are a few changes in the recent past, including:
Digital invoicing and eChecks for faster payments
Partnership with Chase for customers to take payments seamlessly on your site or phone and get paid faster
Listed as part of Shopify’s supported U.S. payment gateways
Authorize.netpricing
Authorize.net offers two pricing plans: an all-in-one option, which includes a merchant account and payment gateway, and the payment gateway only option. If you have an existing merchant account, the latter plan is good for you, but you’ll still pay the monthly $25 gateway fee, no matter how much you use the service.
And if you sell occasionally, you’re better off adding Amazon Pay to your store. Merchants without existing accounts can settle for the all-in-one option, which also attracts a $25 monthly gateway fee along with a 2.9% plus 30 cent fee per transaction.
Pros and cons of Authorize.net
Pros
No contract, setup fee, or early termination fee
Works with PaymentCloud and Shopify
Returning customers can pay without re-entering payment details
Strong security suite
Cons
Charges monthly gateway fee
Doesn’t work for merchants in U.K. and Europe
Separate merchant account required to use the payment gateway
Automatic updates only for Visa and Mastercard card types
PayPal is one of the most popular online payment services, with about 429 million users worldwide. Business owners readily add PayPal to their websites and online stores because customers trust it. And it offers easy payment options, including crypto and Venmo, and protection for both buyers and sellers while transacting online.
Pricing structure: Flat-rate
Customer support: Live chat, email, phone, text, resolution center, online community
Integrations: Works with many popular e-commerce platforms, marketplaces, and accounting systems, among other tools
Security and compliance: PCI DSS compliant, buyer and seller protection, PayPal Security key for logins, advanced fraud detection, key pinning, data encryption, email payment confirmation, TLS and secure HTTPS connections
PayPal is trusted by small business users as it lets them accept and process payments online. The service integrates with multiple apps, including e-commerce and accounting, making it a great choice for online transactions.
While it works for domestic and international SMBs, I highly recommend it for freelancers or solopreneurs, and businesses with occasional/seasonal sales.
What I like about PayPal is its name recognition and the trust consumers associate with it, which gives businesses higher chances of closing sales online.
Who is PayPal best for?
We recommend PayPal for startups and small businesses handling low-volume transactions. I found its application and setup process, ease of use, and processing fees to be geared towards such businesses requiring quick setup and reasonable transaction processing fees.
You can choose the checkout integration options that work for your business.
Recent upgrades to PayPal
Just recently, PayPal proposed a $2,500 fine on merchants for spreading misinformation through its Acceptable Use Policy. But the company had to pull the “erroneously released” update after severe social media backlash.
PayPal pricing
PayPal fees vary based on the payment method. For instance, the online card payment fee for domestic card payments is 3.49% plus 49 cents per transaction while international card payments pay an additional 1.50% per transaction. These fees are added to extra costs like the $20 charge-back, instant transfer fees, and more.
Pros and cons of PayPal
Pros
Offers protection for buyers and merchants
Ideal for new businesses or those with fairly low transaction volumes
Works in multiple countries worldwide
Cons
May be costly for high-volume businesses
Charges extra fees for international card payments
Applies payment holds (especially for new or dormant accounts)
How I Tested the Best Online Payment Processing Services
I test each online payment processing service by signing up for a free plan and demo to see what each provides new users and the ease of navigating its dashboard. Also, I pay a great deal of attention to the support provided.
I weigh the details and rank each online payment processor based on the quality of its features and how transparent the company is regarding its product and transaction fees.
It's crucial to pick a payment processing company you can trust, so I focus on whether each provider presents its products honestly, clearly, and transparently. In my tests, this is easy to pick up on as I compare the list of features each company claims it offers to what I have access to once I begin using the service.
Lastly, I base my online payment processorratings on the provider’s ability to meet certain criteria. These include transparent pricing (no hidden fees); excellent, round-the-clock customer support; availability of multiple payment integration and customization options; strong security and compliance to payment processing standards, and advanced features.
I then test each tool with a mock seller account to check whether it meets the criteria. This gives me a general indication of the services to expect, and the helpfulness of the support team. It also reveals what you’d likely experience when you finally settle on the best online payment processing service for your business.
Each online payment processing service has been selected based on its being at the top of its game for one aspect or another.
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