In your business you likely have existing business needs that you want your merchant account services company to accommodate. For example, if you’re using Quickbooks, you want a processor that integrates with that accounting software. Similarly, if you accept international payments, or have a particular computer operating system that you want to use, finding a credit card processor that can accommodate these things makes for fewer headaches.
Below we’ve listed what we consider to be the best merchant account service providers for some of the most common feature requests. Take a look…
Best for Quickbooks Integration: QuickBooks Merchant Services:
- Eligibility: Any company that wants QuickBooks integration can find no better integration than with QuickBooks Merchant Services. Given that the service is more expensive than its competitors, merchants might ultimately decide to go with another company, but if Quickbooks integration is paramount, you can’t beat them.
- Price: QuickBooks Merchant Services offers tiered pricing that can seem very confusing at first glance. Basically, QuickBooks provides a pricing plan for businesses that own the accounting software and another plan for those businesses that don’t own the software. Then, they break the pricing down into “Basic” and “Pro.” We break their pricing down for you in our review, but in general it appears to be more expensive than average for most users.
- Summary: QuickBooks purchased Innovative Merchant Services in 2012 and rebranded that company with their name. Since QuickBooks Payments is so new, perhaps they’ll reconsider some of their pricing options to make this service more palatable for a larger range of clients. In the meantime, just know that no other place that will integrate with your QuickBooks as well as this service.
- What’s the Catch?: QuickBooks pricing is confusing, expensive, and their services contain a lot of hidden fees that can add up quickly. The plus side is that QuickBooks Payments offers a month-to-month contract with no early termination fee. So, if you discover this company isn’t a fit for your business, you can leave. Be aware, however, that leaving QuickBooks still can be sticky…
Best for International Businesses: Chase Paymentech
- Eligibility: Most of the complaints we read came from small business owners who didn’t have a staff on hand to handle the fine print involved in Chase Paymentech’s paperwork. Chase Paymentech, for many reasons, is more suited for large international corporate businesses that have staff on hand to handle complex contracts.
- Price: Chase Paymentech offers four payment levels dependent upon business types. Within each level, they price transactions on applicable discount rates. They quote as low as 1.65% + $.25 per transaction. You can learn more about those fee structures in our review.
- Summary: Chase Paymentech’s pricing appears competitive, especially for international transactions. Those transactions, considered high risk for some credit card processors, appears to be second nature to this company. Chase Paymentech also provides great free information on doing business with credit cards for any size business.
- What’s the Catch?: Chase Paymentech tries to appeal to small and mid-sized businesses because those same business owners might already bank with Chase or are familiar with the name. The problem, in our opinion, is that Chase Paymentech is complicated and large – best suited for high volume and/or international businesses that have staff on hand to interpret all the numbers and fine print.
Best for ‘No Signature Required’ Payments: Leap Payments:
- Eligibility: Small and mid-sized merchants might enjoy the option between tiered and Interchange Plus pricing. But, Leap Payments also offers another feature – a Quick Pay option that provides merchants with the ability to sell without a signature on transactions under $25.
- Price: Leap Payments currently offers an Interchange Plus + $.29 per transaction price. Their tiered pricing starts at .39% + $.22 per transaction. Their rates, which include a $6.95 per month PCI compliance fee and a $9.95 per month statement fee, still might be too expensive for the smallest startups. But, they offer features that may prove to be the next step up for entrepreneurs.
- Summary: Leap Payments offers a variety of services and superb customer care for the small and growing or mid-sized business. One innovative feature is that they offer a plan wherein customer payments under $25 don’t require a signature. Thus, small and mid-sized businesses that have a lot of small transactions can offer the same convenience and speed that big companies offer.
- What’s the Catch?: Leap Payments doesn’t offer much for free, even a swiper. At the same time, their fees for other services aren’t outrageous, especially for mid-sized businesses.
Best for Being Charitable: Payline Data
- Eligibility: If you want to make contributions to your favorite charity, Payline Data will make that contribution for you at no charge to you, by donating a percentage of the revenue they generate off your account to the charity of your choice. This feature is a rarity among credit card processing companies, and it sets Payline Data apart for small- to mid-sized businesses.
- Price: Payline Data offers two payment plans, both based upon Interchange Plus pricing. Their “Simple” plan is Interchange + .50% + $.10 per transaction + $5 monthly fee. Their Pro Plan is Interchange + .20% + $.10 per transaction + $20 monthly fee.
- Summary: Payline Data offers payment processing services with no hidden fees, great service, and reasonable rates. Their charitable contributions are part of their marketing to non-profit services, but it’s a great service nonetheless. Payline offers month-to-month processing with no early termination fees.
- What’s the Catch?: Few complaints with this company, and they’ve set the bar for a site that offers transparency, education, and motives. I suppose if you don’t want to donate to a charity through your merchant services provider and prefer to do so directly, the knowledge that some of your fees are going there might annoy you.
Conclusion:
Credit card processing companies only have a few ways to differentiate themselves from their competitors, with features they offer being a primary one. But selecting a processor on the basis of features they offer doesn’t necessarily mean you’re paying more. Many processors offer most mainstream features, so even by restricting yourself to, say, a processor that offers quickbooks integration, there will still be a number of choices that you can then narrow further based on price.
If you have any additional questions about selecting a merchant account services provider based on a feature you want, 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.
