Best Merchant Services for Mobile, eCommerce, Recurring Payment, etc

#1 CardConnect Merchant Services

Call: (877) 828-0720

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Ideal for e-commerce businesses below $1M per month, they offer gateway & ecommerce integration, 24/7 customer service, chargeback prevention and cheap pricing.

Rates

0.25% - 1.75%

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Features

• Free Equipment
• Accepts High-Risk
• 24/7 Customer Support

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#2 CreditCardProcessing.com Merchant Services

Call: (866) 441-1991

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Low interchange+ pricing, excellent eCommerce integration via the Authorize.net gateway, and free setup for online merchants makes them ideal for ecommerce / online businesses.

Rates

0.35% - 1.75%

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Features

• Free Authorize.net
• Free eCommerce Setup
• Month-to-Month

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#3 BluePay Merchant Services

Call: (844) 236-1465

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Built for eCommerce, online and mobile businesses, BluePay has an excellent gateway, technology and a strong integration team. A good choice for mid-sized and large B2B, B2G (Government), and ecommerce merchants.

Rates

0.95% - 2.60%

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Features

• Next Day Funding
• 24/7 Customer Service
• Low eCommerce Rates

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#4 Helcim Merchant Services

Call: (877) 643-5246

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Very developer friendly, they're already integrated with APIs for dozens of leading online shopping carts/client-side payment processing/gateways. Good prices & experienced tech integration team.

Rates

0.23% - 2.58%

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Features

• Developer Friendly
• Top Integration Team
• Month-To-Month

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#5 Netcom PaySystem Merchant Services

Call: (800) 875-6680

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Excellent customer service, developer friendly gateway, low pricing, and a higher risk tolerance, make NetCom a good choice for smaller online / eCommerce US based websites.

Rates

0.25% - 2.60%

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Features

• No Setup Fee
• No Monthly Minimums
• Month-To-Month

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If you know how you want to accept payments, sometimes it’s easier to just use that as a starting point in shopping for merchant account services. In this article we cover what we consider the best credit card processor for accepting mobile payments, eCommerce payments, shopping cart, EVM / Apply Pay, and accepting payments via iOS devices.

Best for Mobile Payments: Flint

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• Eligibility: Flint offers a unique card reader for smartphones that doesn’t require hardware (no card reader). Instead you use your smartphone’s camera instead of swiping credit cards. Mostly geared toward small businesses, this setup is free with no contract, no minimum monthly limit, and no early termination fees. This is all this company does – processing limited credit and debit cards by phone.

• Price: Flint processes debit VISA and Mastercard at a flat 1.95% per transaction. They process VISA and Mastercard credit cards at 2.95% per transaction. The processing fees are high, but there are no hidden costs.

• Summary: Flint’s service is catching on – so much so that some other merchant account services are offering it to their small business clients. The fact that manually swiped and keyed-in transactions are the same rates makes it easy for merchants to keep track of their costs.

• What’s the Catch?: The catch is that Flint doesn’t require a credit or background check to download or use their app; therefore, many merchants may find themselves in a pickle if they process more than $1,000 in sales during any training seven-day period. The reason behind this possible suspension or termination is that that because Flint doesn’t have much background information on your business, they’re highly suspicious of potential fraud. Flint is open to working with clients one-on-one to understand the merchant’s business and avoid that termination.

Best for Recurring Payments: Authorize.Net

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• Eligibility: Authorize.Net is a gateway service. That’s all this company does, although they offer merchant services as third party. If you’re seeking a gateway for an eCommerce site, you can use this company directly and perhaps save some money by avoiding a middle man, or sign up with a credit card processor that offers Authorize.net as a Gateway option.

• Price: Pricing is simple with Authorize.Net’s gateway service. Merchants pay $.10 per transaction + $25 per month for gateway fees. With that said, merchants also need a merchant service account, and that’s where the pricing gets tricky. If you sign up via Authorize.net’s website you’ll pay a flat fee of 2.9% + $.30 per transaction for credit card processing plus the Authorize.net. Instead, find a credit card processor that offers Authorize.net and you’ll save on both the Gateway service and on the processing rate.

• Summary: Authorize.Net is a gateway service. That’s all they do. Merchants might find less expensive rates, even using Authorize.Net as a gateway, through a reseller for this service.

• What’s the Catch?: You can get this same service via a credit card processing company that uses Authorize.net as their gateway provider. Moreover, you can generally get cheaper credit card processing rates and even cheaper Authorize.net fees through that processor. So, bizarrely, don’t buy direct.

Best for eCommerce / Shopping Cart: Shopify

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• Eligibility: This Canadian-based eCommerce site offers merchants a format to sell online as well as to collect payments directly or through third-party processors. Although small merchants might enjoy this service, this company appears more geared toward small-and-growing or mid-size or larger businesses.

• Price: Shopify offers tiered options for payment depending upon venue. They’ve expanded their options to include brick-and-mortar stores with inventory integration, but we’re focusing here on their online offer. Their online offerings are based upon store size, and the very basic option is 2.9% + $.30 per transaction + $29 per month fee.

• Summary: Shopify recently went through some major changes online, including adding their own processing service. The upheaval seemed to cause the most complaints, but it appears the dust has settled. Although we love the layout and simplified options available, some small merchants might find some of the plans too expensive for low-volume sales.

• What’s the Catch?: Shopify’s monthly fees can go upwards to $219 per month if a merchant wants both online and in-store sales integration. That price is a bit steep for smaller merchants. Also, be aware that merchants will pay a gateway fee for eCommerce and a 1099-K fee if you are a U.S.-based merchant.

Best for iOS Device: Square

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• Eligibility: Initially, Square was the hot little card swiper that just about anyone could get their hands on to process credit cards. Now, Square offers a POS system for bricks-and-mortar stores, and they’re now developing an online venue for merchants to sell their goods, too. All of this began with that little USB white square, and that swiper continues to be the most ubiquitous card reader around

• Price: Based solely upon the “clear pricing, no surprises” pledge from Square, they offer flat fee pricing across the board. No matter if you are using the card reader only, the in-store POS, or the online venue, merchants pay 2.75% per swiped transaction and 3.5% + $.15 per manual transaction. Online store is considered a “swiped” transaction.

• Summary: Square is growing up, and this company has its very loyal merchant customers. Merchants also find that their customers have become accustomed to that little white square, which engenders trust. It’s up to the merchant to know how far to take a business, however. One a tipping point is reached re: sales volume, merchants might want to seek account that offers lower fees.

• What’s the Catch?: Square is perfect for the merchant who is just starting out. Be aware that, because Square doesn’t conduct background or credit checks before accepting merchants, that they are taking on high risk as well. The downside,h however, is that they may withhold funds on what they deem suspicious activities to cover any problems they may have to deal with on your behalf.

Conclusion:

As you can see from the list above, the merchant services industry offers a wide array of transaction types, and that list will only grow in late 2015 as EMV and contactless payments become mainstream. If the type of payment you want to accept isn’t covered here, check out our articles on processors by feature type which may cover what you’re looking for.

And finally, if you have any additional questions about selecting a merchant account services provider, call us or use our match tool to search 40+ providers. That tool can provide you with a more complete picture of the best fit for your company.