When it comes to finding the cheapest way to accept credit card payments, we recommend taking into consideration the rate, monthly fees, included features, ease of use, and how much time it saves you.
Do you want to accept credit cards but hate the thought of losing your hard-earned money? Unfortunately, you usually can’t accept credit cards without paying for a merchant account, which can be very expensive for a small business if you go with the wrong provider. With pandemic-related financial strains making this an especially bad time to take on big new expenses, we want to help you find the cheapest credit card processing.
But first, a caveat. While cheap can mean obtainable at a low price, it can also mean something is of inferior quality or worth. Nobody wants the latter!
That’s why, with this list, we selected providers that charged the lowest credit card processing fees without sacrificing value so that you can keep the best profit margin for your small business.
Other Featured Options:
Stax by Fattmerchant has long been one of our best-rated all-in-one merchant account providers. The company offers a 0% markup rate and a subscription pricing model. Additionally, free invoicing, a virtual terminal, and POS software all come standard with your account.
Stax features subscription-based pricing — you’ll get processing for $99/month (if you process less than $5 million per year) and the Stax Pay software package for $49-$129/month (depending on your subscription level). Don’t let that monthly fee discourage you. In reality, the 0% markup could save a high-volume business so much money that it more than pays for the monthly fee.
We also like the robust feature set, which includes invoicing and billing features, inventory management, and advanced reporting. Stax also offers several add-on features if you need them, such as an ACH subscription, same-day funding, dispute manager, EBT processing, and more. To help businesses adapt to the COVID era, Stax now offers an entire suite of products designed for brick-and-mortar merchants looking to move online and upgrade hardware to contactless payments.
Pros
Payment Depot’s subscription-based pricing model has no percentage-based markup, so it saves the most money for businesses that frequently process larger tickets.
We appreciate Payment Depot’s model because it combines all your recurring fees (e.g., payment security, virtual terminal) into a single subscription fee, starting at $79/month for the Starter plan. We also like that PD charges some of the lowest credit card processing fees with the elimination of the percentage markup.
In addition to its transparent pricing model, Payment Depot offers numerous integrations, including:
Pros
Businesses categorized as high-risk can have a hard time finding reasonable processing rates, which is why we’re fans of PaymentCloud. Specializing in high-risk credit card processing and offering top-notch customer support, we find this company consistently delivers excellent value.
PaymentCloud doesn’t seem to take advantage of high-risk businesses, unlike many other high-risk processors we’ve reviewed. The company keeps costs low by partnering with bigger banks to maximize the odds of your approval and ongoing stability. It also doesn’t have an exorbitant markup past the interchange fee. The company offers a variety of eCommerce tools:
Pros
A perennial favorite around the Merchant Maverick office is Dharma Merchant Services. We like Dharma Merchant Services for its commitment to transparency, lack of unnecessary fees, and transparent interchange-plus pricing.
Dharma won’t charge you PCI compliance fees, batch fees, AVS fees, setup, or early termination fees. As it’s a month-to-month service, you’ll have many windows to cancel your Dharma Merchant Services account without penalty. The monthly fee is small, ranging between $20 – $25 (plus an additional $10 if you want to add a payment gateway), and high volume businesses get a discount on their transactions.
Additionally, Dharma offers a B2B program that offers discounted rates for businesses processing Level 2 or 3 data. It costs an additional $20 per month, but if your company processes many of these transactions, you’ll ultimately save money.
Pros
National Processing is ideal for those looking for the features and stability of a full-service merchant account. It offers:
If you’re hoping for a software suite with POS analytics and lots of ancillary software options, you might want to consider Square instead. But if you just want something secure to accept debit, credit, and ACH, you’ll likely be more than happy with National Processing. It’s a great service for businesses that want low-fee credit card processing from a reliable company.
Pros
CDGcommerce may be one of the most flexible options for eCommerce businesses. It sports month-to-month agreements with no early termination fees and affordable credit card processing rates for growing small businesses. It also offers a variety of hardware, including those that are contactless-payment-ready. If you’ve been using Square or PayPal and want to upgrade to a full-service merchant account, CDGcommerce is a great choice.
There are a lot of things that CDGcommerce doesn’t charge you for, making it a very affordable option for small businesses and startups. You’ll get the following with your account:
Pros
From mobile and online payments to in-store sales, Payline Data covers all the bases for small businesses. It provides low-cost merchant services suited to low-volume sellers. It also offers a full range of hardware, including those that can accept contactless payments.
Payline also distinguishes itself with its corporate philosophy of charitable giving and support for nonprofit organizations through discounted pricing.
Are you looking for the cheapest payment gateway for your eCommerce shop? Payline Data can set you up with Payline Gateway, a full-featured payment gateway. You’ll get recurring billing, electronic invoicing, and a customer vault with no separate gateway fees or transaction charges.
Pros
Chase Merchant Services is great for small businesses looking for low processing rates from an established name. Chase also supports payments in more than 120 currencies from around the world to facilitate international sales. We like that Chase offers month-to-month billing with no long-term contracts or early termination fees as a standard feature. However, you might have to agree to a three-year contract if you opt for a “free” credit card terminal with your account.
Chase Merchant Services is one of the largest processors in the United States and is a direct processor. You won’t have to deal with any middlemen when using your merchant account. Chase has received remarkably few complaints from merchants for such a large company and has consistently earned good reviews.
Regarding services and features, Chase offers its proprietary payment gateway, or you can integrate with other third-party gateways (such as Authorize.Net). It provides a virtual terminal, several options in credit card terminals, and a mobile processing reader. The card terminals and mobile readers are all contactless-ready. While Chase offers online reporting, ACH, and gift card programs as well, these may come at an additional charge.
Pros
Stax by Fattmerchant has long been one of our best-rated all-in-one merchant account providers. The company offers a 0% markup rate and a subscription pricing model. Additionally, free invoicing, a virtual terminal, and POS software all come standard with your account.
Stax features subscription-based pricing — you’ll get processing for $99/month (if you process less than $5 million per year) and the Stax Pay software package for $49-$129/month (depending on your subscription level). Don’t let that monthly fee discourage you. In reality, the 0% markup could save a high-volume business so much money that it more than pays for the monthly fee.
We also like the robust feature set, which includes invoicing and billing features, inventory management, and advanced reporting. Stax also offers several add-on features if you need them, such as an ACH subscription, same-day funding, dispute manager, EBT processing, and more. To help businesses adapt to the COVID era, Stax now offers an entire suite of products designed for brick-and-mortar merchants looking to move online and upgrade hardware to contactless payments.
Pros
They say you can’t have your cake and eat it too, but Helcim seems to argue otherwise. As one of a handful of payment processors we’ve given a perfect rating to, it can offer tremendous cost savings to businesses.
Helcim offers interchange-plus pricing and has no monthly fee, an extremely rare combination in this industry. Contracts are month-to-month, with no early termination fee, nor are there any setup fees, PCI compliance fees, or monthly minimums. High-volume businesses get discounts on their transaction costs.
Helcim’s POS system runs on most devices and is indicative of its focus on low-cost solutions over expensive hardware.
Pros
Stripe is an eCommerce-focused payment processing platform that offers a wealth of tools to businesses on a month-to-month basis with no maintenance fees.
Stripe may not be the cheapest game in town, but you’ll have a lot of control over what fees you do and don’t want to pay. That’s because many of Stripe’s advanced features–when they aren’t included in your basic account–use an a la carte pricing system that adds an additional fee to your transaction costs.
Businesses with tech-savvy will be able to wring the most value out of Stripe, which offers best-in-class developer tools with exhaustive documentation. It also offers extensive support for international transactions and multiple currency support, making it a great option for businesses that sell across borders.
Pros
Here are some factors that might affect which processor turns out to be cheapest for you:
Pricing for payment processing is a ridiculously complex subject. While you can estimate your costs based on your processing history and business type, don’t expect to be able to come up with a precise figure. Fortunately, the companies we’ve profiled here fully disclose their processing rates and fees, making the job of estimating your costs that much easier.
Consider Cash Discounts Or Surcharges
Probably the most brute-force way to cut down on your credit card transaction costs while still offering credit card payments as an option is to try to influence your customers’ behaviors. Offering a discount for paying in cash can reduce the number of credit card transactions you have to make. Likewise, you can pass some of the costs on to customers in the form of a surcharge, just make sure you’re up to date on state laws.
This method can be very effective, but it has some potential downsides. The first is it may anger some customers who expect the convenience of paying with a card with no additional fees. Another issue is that some credit card processors lower rates for higher volume customers, so you may need to do some math to figure out how much money you’re actually saving.
Consider Adding ACH
Automated Clearing House (ACH) is the system powering most payments in the U.S. Even credit card transactions generally use ACH to move money between banks. So what if you cut out the middle man?
ACH payments, which move money between bank accounts, are generally cheaper than credit card payments. When it comes to sales, ACH is most often used for recurring transactions like subscriptions and memberships, but it’s also commonly used for B2B transactions.
While ACH is cheaper, it’s rarely as convenient as credit cards. ACH doesn’t guarantee payment the way credit cards do, so there is some additional risk that comes with using it.
Choose The Pricing Plan That Will Save You Money
As we touched on in the previous section, choosing the pricing plan that fits your business can make a big difference in how much you’re paying for your payment processing. High-volume businesses will usually benefit from interchange-plus or membership pricing. In contrast, low-volume businesses will generally benefit more from flat-rate pricing with no monthly fees, especially when they come with generous “free” software.
Businesses doing a lot of B2B transactions should also look for any special rates or programs a processor offers for level 2 or 3 data.
And everyone should try to stay away from tiered pricing if possible, although this can be difficult for high-risk businesses.
Watch Out For Miscellaneous Fees
Like your cell phone service provider, credit card services can dream up just about any kind of fee they want and bury them deep in your merchant services agreement. Needless to say, you want as few of these as possible.
Dealing with a credit card processor that is transparent and upfront about all of its costs can eliminate a lot of nasty surprises down the road.
Learn The Lingo
Credit card processing companies use a lot of industry jargon. You’ll be at an advantage when analyzing your bill if you know what everything means.
Understanding the difference between an interchange fee–those charged by the credit card networks themselves–and the markup charged by your payment processor, for example, can help you figure out just how much your processor is actually charging you. It can also help you avoid deceptive marketing gimmicks.
Choose A Processor That Can Accommodate Changes In Your Business
It’s not unusual to outgrow a pricing plan as your business matures or goes through seasonal changes. Selecting a processor that scales well with those changes can save you money over the long term, especially if the plan can adjust without your direct oversight.
Alternatively, picking a payment processor with no long-term contracts allows you to switch providers should you find one that better fits your credit card processing needs.
Consider The Total Value Your Processor Provides
With many payment services operating as massive business software platforms, your transaction rate and fees aren’t the only questions you’ll want to consider.
If your payment processor is, for example, offering inventory management software as part of your package, that may mean you don’t have to spend money on a separate software package. If it offers eCommerce tools, consider how much they increase your sales. Does the service pay for itself, or is it dead weight?
For tips on how to get the best possible rates, check out our post, How To Negotiate The Perfect Credit Card Processing Deal. And for a side-by-side comparison of some of the companies listed here (and a few other excellent providers), please see our Merchant Account Comparison Chart.
If you have a question about any of the companies featured here, ask us in the comment section below!
Source: https://www.merchantmaverick.com/cheapest-credit-card-processing-companies/#
Do you want to accept credit cards but hate the thought of losing your hard-earned money? Unfortunately, you usually can’t accept credit cards without paying for a merchant account, which can be very expensive for a small business if you go with the wrong provider. With pandemic-related financial strains making this an especially bad time to take on big new expenses, we want to help you find the cheapest credit card processing.
But first, a caveat. While cheap can mean obtainable at a low price, it can also mean something is of inferior quality or worth. Nobody wants the latter!
That’s why, with this list, we selected providers that charged the lowest credit card processing fees without sacrificing value so that you can keep the best profit margin for your small business.
Other Featured Options:
- CDGcommerce:
- Best for eCommerce businesses
- Offers different pricing structures for businesses at all stages of growth
- Payline:
- Available for mobile and online payments to in-store sales
- Special non-profit pricing available
- Chase Merchant Services:
- Direct processor with an established name
- Willing to work with small businesses to offer lower processing rates
- Square:
- Predictable pricing for newer businesses
- Robust software feature set
- Helcim:
- Interchange-plus pricing with no monthly fee
- Flexible POS software
- Stripe Payments:
- Predictable pricing for newer businesses
- Expansive eCommerce features
The 11 Cheapest Credit Card Processing Companies For Small Business
When it comes to finding the cheapest way to accept credit card payments, we recommend taking into consideration the rate, monthly fees, included features, ease of use, and how much time it saves you. Here are some of the cheapest credit processing companies we’ve come across in our own research.1. Stax By Fattmerchant
Stax by Fattmerchant has long been one of our best-rated all-in-one merchant account providers. The company offers a 0% markup rate and a subscription pricing model. Additionally, free invoicing, a virtual terminal, and POS software all come standard with your account.
Stax features subscription-based pricing — you’ll get processing for $99/month (if you process less than $5 million per year) and the Stax Pay software package for $49-$129/month (depending on your subscription level). Don’t let that monthly fee discourage you. In reality, the 0% markup could save a high-volume business so much money that it more than pays for the monthly fee.
We also like the robust feature set, which includes invoicing and billing features, inventory management, and advanced reporting. Stax also offers several add-on features if you need them, such as an ACH subscription, same-day funding, dispute manager, EBT processing, and more. To help businesses adapt to the COVID era, Stax now offers an entire suite of products designed for brick-and-mortar merchants looking to move online and upgrade hardware to contactless payments.
Pros
- Month-to-month billing and no long-term contract
- No percentage markup rate
- Next-day funding available
- US-based merchants only
- Not suitable for low-volume businesses
2. Payment Depot
Payment Depot’s subscription-based pricing model has no percentage-based markup, so it saves the most money for businesses that frequently process larger tickets.
We appreciate Payment Depot’s model because it combines all your recurring fees (e.g., payment security, virtual terminal) into a single subscription fee, starting at $79/month for the Starter plan. We also like that PD charges some of the lowest credit card processing fees with the elimination of the percentage markup.
In addition to its transparent pricing model, Payment Depot offers numerous integrations, including:
- QuickBooks
- Authorize.Net
- Opencart
- WooCommerce
Pros
- Free payment gateway and virtual terminal
- No application or setup fee
- Transparent membership pricing
- Accepts only US-based merchants
- Not suitable for high-risk businesses
3. PaymentCloud
Businesses categorized as high-risk can have a hard time finding reasonable processing rates, which is why we’re fans of PaymentCloud. Specializing in high-risk credit card processing and offering top-notch customer support, we find this company consistently delivers excellent value.
PaymentCloud doesn’t seem to take advantage of high-risk businesses, unlike many other high-risk processors we’ve reviewed. The company keeps costs low by partnering with bigger banks to maximize the odds of your approval and ongoing stability. It also doesn’t have an exorbitant markup past the interchange fee. The company offers a variety of eCommerce tools:
- Shopping cart integration (e.g., Shopify, Shift4Shop)
- eCheck and ACH processing
- Payment gateway (e.g., Authorize.Net, USAePay)
Pros
- Specializes in high-risk businesses
- Reasonable rates
- Excellent customer service
- Pricing not disclosed on the website (varies based on the back-end processor)
4. Dharma Merchant Services
A perennial favorite around the Merchant Maverick office is Dharma Merchant Services. We like Dharma Merchant Services for its commitment to transparency, lack of unnecessary fees, and transparent interchange-plus pricing.
Dharma won’t charge you PCI compliance fees, batch fees, AVS fees, setup, or early termination fees. As it’s a month-to-month service, you’ll have many windows to cancel your Dharma Merchant Services account without penalty. The monthly fee is small, ranging between $20 – $25 (plus an additional $10 if you want to add a payment gateway), and high volume businesses get a discount on their transactions.
Additionally, Dharma offers a B2B program that offers discounted rates for businesses processing Level 2 or 3 data. It costs an additional $20 per month, but if your company processes many of these transactions, you’ll ultimately save money.
Pros
- Interchange-plus pricing offered exclusively
- No application or setup fee
- Discounted pricing for non-profits
- Accepts only US-based merchants
- Not suitable for high-risk businesses
- Not suitable for low-volume businesses
5. National Processing
National Processing is ideal for those looking for the features and stability of a full-service merchant account. It offers:
- Low interchange-plus rates
- Ability to accept ACH/echecks
- Contactless payments-ready Clover hardware
If you’re hoping for a software suite with POS analytics and lots of ancillary software options, you might want to consider Square instead. But if you just want something secure to accept debit, credit, and ACH, you’ll likely be more than happy with National Processing. It’s a great service for businesses that want low-fee credit card processing from a reliable company.
Pros
- Low interchange-plus pricing
- Low-cost ACH payment processing
- Good online reputation
- Early termination fee charged in some circumstances
- A long-term contract is required in exchange for the free terminal
6. CDGcommerce
CDGcommerce may be one of the most flexible options for eCommerce businesses. It sports month-to-month agreements with no early termination fees and affordable credit card processing rates for growing small businesses. It also offers a variety of hardware, including those that are contactless-payment-ready. If you’ve been using Square or PayPal and want to upgrade to a full-service merchant account, CDGcommerce is a great choice.
There are a lot of things that CDGcommerce doesn’t charge you for, making it a very affordable option for small businesses and startups. You’ll get the following with your account:
- No account setup fees
- No PCI compliance fees
- No gateway fees
- No monthly minimums
Pros
- Month-to-month agreement with no early termination fees
- Free payment gateway and virtual terminal
- Excellent customer service
- Only available for US-based merchants
7. Payline Data
View attachment Payline_Logo_Onyx.pngFrom mobile and online payments to in-store sales, Payline Data covers all the bases for small businesses. It provides low-cost merchant services suited to low-volume sellers. It also offers a full range of hardware, including those that can accept contactless payments.
Payline also distinguishes itself with its corporate philosophy of charitable giving and support for nonprofit organizations through discounted pricing.
Are you looking for the cheapest payment gateway for your eCommerce shop? Payline Data can set you up with Payline Gateway, a full-featured payment gateway. You’ll get recurring billing, electronic invoicing, and a customer vault with no separate gateway fees or transaction charges.
Pros
- Transparent interchange-plus pricing
- No early termination fee
- Free gateway and virtual terminal
- Not available for international sellers
- Hidden developer tools
8. Chase Merchant Services
Chase Merchant Services is great for small businesses looking for low processing rates from an established name. Chase also supports payments in more than 120 currencies from around the world to facilitate international sales. We like that Chase offers month-to-month billing with no long-term contracts or early termination fees as a standard feature. However, you might have to agree to a three-year contract if you opt for a “free” credit card terminal with your account.
Chase Merchant Services is one of the largest processors in the United States and is a direct processor. You won’t have to deal with any middlemen when using your merchant account. Chase has received remarkably few complaints from merchants for such a large company and has consistently earned good reviews.
Regarding services and features, Chase offers its proprietary payment gateway, or you can integrate with other third-party gateways (such as Authorize.Net). It provides a virtual terminal, several options in credit card terminals, and a mobile processing reader. The card terminals and mobile readers are all contactless-ready. While Chase offers online reporting, ACH, and gift card programs as well, these may come at an additional charge.
Pros
- Large direct processor
- Supports 120 currencies
- Interchange-plus pricing available on request
- Free credit card terminal requires a long-term contract
- Limited pricing information disclosed
3 Best Credit Card Processors With No Monthly Fee
High-volume processors can take advantage of savings from membership and interchange-plus pricing, but these pricing schemes may not be ideal for everyone. Lower volume businesses may instead want to prioritize minimizing any recurring fees that come with their credit card processing service. One of the easier ways to do this is to pick a credit card processor with no monthly fees.1. Square
Stax by Fattmerchant has long been one of our best-rated all-in-one merchant account providers. The company offers a 0% markup rate and a subscription pricing model. Additionally, free invoicing, a virtual terminal, and POS software all come standard with your account.
Stax features subscription-based pricing — you’ll get processing for $99/month (if you process less than $5 million per year) and the Stax Pay software package for $49-$129/month (depending on your subscription level). Don’t let that monthly fee discourage you. In reality, the 0% markup could save a high-volume business so much money that it more than pays for the monthly fee.
We also like the robust feature set, which includes invoicing and billing features, inventory management, and advanced reporting. Stax also offers several add-on features if you need them, such as an ACH subscription, same-day funding, dispute manager, EBT processing, and more. To help businesses adapt to the COVID era, Stax now offers an entire suite of products designed for brick-and-mortar merchants looking to move online and upgrade hardware to contactless payments.
Pros
- Month-to-month billing and no long-term contract
- No percentage markup rate
- Next-day funding available
- US-based merchants only
- Not suitable for low-volume businesses
2. Helcim
They say you can’t have your cake and eat it too, but Helcim seems to argue otherwise. As one of a handful of payment processors we’ve given a perfect rating to, it can offer tremendous cost savings to businesses.
Helcim offers interchange-plus pricing and has no monthly fee, an extremely rare combination in this industry. Contracts are month-to-month, with no early termination fee, nor are there any setup fees, PCI compliance fees, or monthly minimums. High-volume businesses get discounts on their transaction costs.
Helcim’s POS system runs on most devices and is indicative of its focus on low-cost solutions over expensive hardware.
Pros
- Transparent interchange-plus pricing
- Few additional fees
- Accepts international payments
- Not suitable for very low-volume merchants
- Not suitable for high-risk industries
3. Stripe
Stripe is an eCommerce-focused payment processing platform that offers a wealth of tools to businesses on a month-to-month basis with no maintenance fees.
Stripe may not be the cheapest game in town, but you’ll have a lot of control over what fees you do and don’t want to pay. That’s because many of Stripe’s advanced features–when they aren’t included in your basic account–use an a la carte pricing system that adds an additional fee to your transaction costs.
Businesses with tech-savvy will be able to wring the most value out of Stripe, which offers best-in-class developer tools with exhaustive documentation. It also offers extensive support for international transactions and multiple currency support, making it a great option for businesses that sell across borders.
Pros
- Predictable flat-rate pricing
- Transparent fee structure
- Accepts international payments
- Account stability issues
- Not suitable for high-risk industries
What Is The Cheapest Way To Accept Credit Cards?
When looking for the cheapest credit card processing rates for you, specifically, you’ll need to consider several factors. Part of the reason there are so many players in the credit card processing game is because they cater to different business needs.Here are some factors that might affect which processor turns out to be cheapest for you:
- Processing Volume: High-volume businesses can take advantage of the discounts offered by interchange-plus and membership pricing plans. While these often come with a monthly fee, that cost is easily offset by the savings per transaction.
- Monthly Maintenance Fees: As mentioned above, these may be trivial for high-volume businesses, but low-volume merchants probably want to avoid them.
- Payment Methods: Flat-rate pricing tends to raise the costs of processing cards like Visa and Mastercard while lowering the cost of processing American Express and Discover. Knowing what types of payments your customers gravitate toward could help you here.
- Risk: High-risk businesses won’t have the same options that lower-risk businesses have and will almost always pay more for credit card processing.
- Type Of Transaction: While most can handle both, payment processors tend to specialize in either in-person or eCommerce transactions. To get the most bang for your buck, you’ll want to pick one that offers full support for your main sales channel.
Pricing for payment processing is a ridiculously complex subject. While you can estimate your costs based on your processing history and business type, don’t expect to be able to come up with a precise figure. Fortunately, the companies we’ve profiled here fully disclose their processing rates and fees, making the job of estimating your costs that much easier.
5 Tips To Help You Negotiate The Best Credit Card Processing Rates
Here are some suggestions for keeping your costs down when trying to get the best credit card processing rates.- Buy the hardware outright when possible. Equipment leases are almost always a bad idea. Purchasing your equipment outright saves you money in comparison.
- Seek out the best pricing model for your business type. Knowing your processing volume and average ticket size might help you pick the pricing model best suited to you.
- Avoid processors that charge lots of “junk” fees. Your processing rate may be low, but if the processor tacks on lots of junk fees, your total costs may still be unnecessarily high. Some providers even charge an annual fee along with a monthly fee!
- Avoid monthly minimums if you’re a low-volume merchant. With monthly minimums, if you don’t process enough money in a given month to meet the minimum amount you have to pay your processor, you’ll be charged the difference between your monthly minimum and your actual processing fees for that month. Thankfully, most of our preferred providers don’t impose monthly minimums.
- Shop around! Never go with the first company you find. Get multiple quotes from processors who provide what you need.
7 Tips To Ensure You Get The Lowest Credit Card Processing Rates
At the end of the day, credit card processing fees are an expense and, as a savvy merchant, you want to minimize unnecessary expenses. Since not accepting credit cards at all is presumably out of the question, let’s look at some ways you can avoid spending too much on credit card processing.Consider Cash Discounts Or Surcharges
Probably the most brute-force way to cut down on your credit card transaction costs while still offering credit card payments as an option is to try to influence your customers’ behaviors. Offering a discount for paying in cash can reduce the number of credit card transactions you have to make. Likewise, you can pass some of the costs on to customers in the form of a surcharge, just make sure you’re up to date on state laws.
This method can be very effective, but it has some potential downsides. The first is it may anger some customers who expect the convenience of paying with a card with no additional fees. Another issue is that some credit card processors lower rates for higher volume customers, so you may need to do some math to figure out how much money you’re actually saving.
Consider Adding ACH
Automated Clearing House (ACH) is the system powering most payments in the U.S. Even credit card transactions generally use ACH to move money between banks. So what if you cut out the middle man?
ACH payments, which move money between bank accounts, are generally cheaper than credit card payments. When it comes to sales, ACH is most often used for recurring transactions like subscriptions and memberships, but it’s also commonly used for B2B transactions.
While ACH is cheaper, it’s rarely as convenient as credit cards. ACH doesn’t guarantee payment the way credit cards do, so there is some additional risk that comes with using it.
Choose The Pricing Plan That Will Save You Money
As we touched on in the previous section, choosing the pricing plan that fits your business can make a big difference in how much you’re paying for your payment processing. High-volume businesses will usually benefit from interchange-plus or membership pricing. In contrast, low-volume businesses will generally benefit more from flat-rate pricing with no monthly fees, especially when they come with generous “free” software.
Businesses doing a lot of B2B transactions should also look for any special rates or programs a processor offers for level 2 or 3 data.
And everyone should try to stay away from tiered pricing if possible, although this can be difficult for high-risk businesses.
Watch Out For Miscellaneous Fees
Like your cell phone service provider, credit card services can dream up just about any kind of fee they want and bury them deep in your merchant services agreement. Needless to say, you want as few of these as possible.
Dealing with a credit card processor that is transparent and upfront about all of its costs can eliminate a lot of nasty surprises down the road.
Learn The Lingo
Credit card processing companies use a lot of industry jargon. You’ll be at an advantage when analyzing your bill if you know what everything means.
Understanding the difference between an interchange fee–those charged by the credit card networks themselves–and the markup charged by your payment processor, for example, can help you figure out just how much your processor is actually charging you. It can also help you avoid deceptive marketing gimmicks.
Choose A Processor That Can Accommodate Changes In Your Business
It’s not unusual to outgrow a pricing plan as your business matures or goes through seasonal changes. Selecting a processor that scales well with those changes can save you money over the long term, especially if the plan can adjust without your direct oversight.
Alternatively, picking a payment processor with no long-term contracts allows you to switch providers should you find one that better fits your credit card processing needs.
Consider The Total Value Your Processor Provides
With many payment services operating as massive business software platforms, your transaction rate and fees aren’t the only questions you’ll want to consider.
If your payment processor is, for example, offering inventory management software as part of your package, that may mean you don’t have to spend money on a separate software package. If it offers eCommerce tools, consider how much they increase your sales. Does the service pay for itself, or is it dead weight?
The Bottom Line On The Cheapest Credit Card Processing For Small Business
The credit card processors we’ve profiled here provide great service at an affordable cost. However, some are better suited to particular types of businesses than others. Keep in mind your goals, and don’t be afraid to crunch some numbers and compare your top options. It’s not always obvious which company has the cheapest credit card processing until you work it out with your projected volume and average ticket size.For tips on how to get the best possible rates, check out our post, How To Negotiate The Perfect Credit Card Processing Deal. And for a side-by-side comparison of some of the companies listed here (and a few other excellent providers), please see our Merchant Account Comparison Chart.
If you have a question about any of the companies featured here, ask us in the comment section below!
In Summary: The 11 Cheapest Credit Card Processing Companies For Small Business
- Stax by Fattmerchant:
- Best for an all-in-one merchant account provider
- Offers proprietary Omni POS software
- Payment Depot:
- Best for mid to large-sized businesses
- Ideally priced for businesses that process larger tickets
- PaymentCloud:
- High-risk processor
- Reasonable rates and fees
- Dharma Merchant Services:
- High-volume processor
- Good rates and limited fees
- National Processing:
- Full-service merchant account
- No-frills, low fee merchant, low fuss
- CDGcommerce:
- Best for eCommerce businesses
- Offers different pricing structures for businesses at all stages of growth
- Payline:
- Available for mobile and online payments to in-store sales
- Special non-profit pricing available
- Chase Merchant Services:
- Direct processor with an established name
- Willing to work with small businesses to offer lower processing rates
- Square:
- Predictable pricing for newer businesses
- Robust software feature set
- Helcim:
- Interchange-plus pricing with no monthly fee
- Flexible POS software
- Stripe Payments:
- Predictable pricing for newer businesses
- Expansive eCommerce features
Source: https://www.merchantmaverick.com/cheapest-credit-card-processing-companies/#
