The Best Merchant Services of 2021

Before its merger with Fiserv this year, First Data was already one of the biggest credit card processing companies in the world. It provides its processing services to more than 6 million business locations in 118 countries. It processes more than 3,000 transactions per second, amounting to more than 33 billion transactions per year. Annually, these transactions are worth $2.6 trillion.

Fiserv works with businesses of all sizes, from startups to multinational corporations, and across nearly every industry, including retail, food and beverage, and professional services. It also owns the Clover brand of point-of-sale systems, which is sold by more than 3,000 Fiserv resellers nationwide.

Pricing and Terms

Fiserv doesn't post its rates, fees and contract terms on its website, which is inconvenient for merchants wanting to shop around for a good deal online without calling companies. However, this is a fairly common practice among large, full-service processors, as many prefer to customize quotes to prospective merchants, considering factors such as industry, monthly processing volume, and sales ticket averages to calculate your rates.

The company does post its flat-rate pricing on the Clover website, and those are the rates we were quoted when we reached out to the company, posing as a small business owner.

Flat-Rate Pricing

This pricing model can be the best option for small businesses that have a lower monthly processing volume and new businesses that don't yet know what their processing average will be. Like other flat-rate plans, Fiserv's flat rate includes all fees – which can save you money if you don't process a high volume of credit card sales each month. The caveat is that Fiserv expects its small business customers to use Clover, so there is a fee for the Clover point-of-sale software.

There are two flat-rate plans. The one you use depends on the Clover POS software you use.

Clover Register POS

• In-person transactions: 2.3% +$0.10
• Online and keyed-in transactions: 3.5% + $0.10
• Monthly fee for Clover Register software: $29

Clover Register Lite POS

• In-person transactions: 2.7% + $0.10
• Online and keyed-in transactions: 3.5% + $0.10
• Monthly fee for Clover Register Lite software: $14

Interchange-Plus Pricing

Industry experts prefer this pricing model for its transparency, and for most businesses, this is the most cost-effective plan. The rep we spoke with said he could provide us with interchange-plus rates, but only if we could provide a statement. If you're currently processing and willing to provide the company with a statement, you may be able to receive an interchange-plus pricing quote and negotiate lower rates than we received in our testing, depending on the specifics of your business.

Like most full-service merchant account providers, Fiserv charges account service fees with its interchange-plus plans. You may be able to negotiate with your sales rep to waive some of them. Fees include the following:

• Application fee. When we last reviewed the company, we were initially quoted $149 for this fee, but the sales rep later offered to waive it for us.

• Cancellation fee. All standard contracts include an early termination fee, but the sales rep we spoke with was willing to waive it.

• Monthly statement fee. At our last review, we were quoted $5.95 for this fee, but it's also negotiable.

• Monthly minimum. This amount is based on the processing rates and fees you pay the processor for the credit card transactions you process each month. Fiserv's minimum is $25, which is on par with what most companies charge.

• PCI compliance fee. Fiserv doesn't charge this fee but instead charges you $19.95 per month for the TransArmor security solution, which includes tools to help you achieve and maintain PCI compliance. This is higher than the $99 annual fee that most processors charge for PCI compliance, so you should try to negotiate a lower rate.

Contract

With the flat-rate plan, the terms of the contract depend on the Clover subscription you choose. Terms vary, so you should ask your sales rep about the availability of month-to-month terms. Be aware that if you decide to lease your processing equipment or POS hardware, you'll also have a noncancelable leasing contract. Leasing contracts are notorious in this industry; whenever possible, you should purchase processing equipment upfront to avoid them.

With the interchange-plus plan, Fiserv's standard contract has lengthy terms that automatically renew and have an expensive termination fee if you choose to close your account before the term expires. However, better terms are available if you ask. When you call for a price quote, don't be afraid to ask for month-to-month terms with no cancellation fee.

The rep will send you a pre-application form that asks for information about your business before providing you with the full contract to review. The rep we spoke with noted that we didn't need to sign it or provide our personal information (bank account and Social Security numbers).

When you receive the merchant application, be aware that this is part of the contract and by signing it, you're actually signing the contract. Make sure you receive the other parts of the contract as well – the terms and conditions and the program guide – and read them. You want to verify that the rates and fees you were quoted match those on the application, that you're aware of all possible fees, and that you understand the cancellation policy.

Also make sure you have a written waiver or that the contract was updated to reflect reduced or waived fees that the rep promised you. As with any processing contract, you don't want to sign it or provide your bank account and Social Security numbers until you've read the full contract and understand your obligations. 

Features

As a full-service payment processing company, Fiserv can help you accept credit and debit cards across multiple channels so you can sell your products in your brick-and-mortar store, on your website, over the phone, and on the go. You can also accept paper checks, ACH payments and gift cards. It offers loyalty programs that you can use to offer incentives to your regular customers. 

Multiple Processing Equipment Options

Fiserv offers its Clover line of processing equipment to its small business merchants. There are several options, ranging from Clover Go, a mobile credit card reader that plugs into your phone or tablet, to Clover Station, a full-featured POS system that includes a monitor, card reader and printer. Every option allows you to accept multiple types of credit and debit payments, including magnetic stripe, chip, and contactless cards as well as mobile wallets like Google Pay and Apple Pay.

As with its processing fees, Fiserv doesn't post hardware pricing on its main website (the old First Data website now titled "First Data is now Fiserv") but is visible on the Clover website. As mentioned in the pricing section above, you can purchase processing equipment upfront or installment plans. Leasing is also available, but you should avoid this option, as it's more expensive over the long term and the contract is noncancelable.

Security

EMV and PCI compliance are the two main security factors to look for in a credit card processor. No matter what type of processing hardware you choose, it should be EMV compliant so you can accept chip credit cards properly and avoid liability for counterfeit fraud occurring at the point of sale. All of Fiserv's Clover processing equipment is now EMV compliant.

If you have a merchant account, you're required to be PCI compliant. Fiserv helps you establish PCI compliance using its TransArmor security software and charges a monthly fee for it. The software simplifies PCI compliance with its PCI Rapid Comply questionnaire wizard and prevents fraud using tokenization to encrypt each transaction, ensuring sensitive credit and debit card data is safely transmitted to the processor and never stored in your system. It also monitors your hardware and software for tampering and includes a $100,000 liability waiver against card association costs that could be incurred if your data is breached. As with any processing service, you need to keep your PCI compliance current to avoid expensive noncompliance fees.

Customer Service

Fiserv's customer service team is available 24/7 by phone or over live chat during extended business hours. You can also email the company. If you prefer to find the information you're looking for online, you can search the company's knowledgebase. Fiserv also provides webinars, whitepapers, newsletters, videos and infographics, which are useful if you want to learn about Fiserv, Clover or processing topics like fraud prevention. 

Additional Considerations

Fiserv works with nearly every business type, and industry-specific solutions are available for businesses in healthcare, corporate billing, financial analysis, gambling and gaming, government, and education. Here are some of the programs it offers:

• First Data Salutes is a companywide program that supports the military community with career opportunities and business solutions. The Military Times magazine and other organizations have recognized Fiserv as a top veteran employer. It provides a free Clover Mini POS device to its new merchants who are veterans or military spouses.

• Fiserv merchants who use Clover processing equipment can accept credit card payments via Alipay, a popular Chinese payment app. Businesses in tourist towns or near travel destinations that have a lot of Chinese travelers can use this feature to cater to a growing customer segment.

Limitations

Because it has millions of merchant customers, Fiserv – under the First Data name – has a lot of negative reviews. Many of the complaints are due to its equipment leasing division, First Data Global Leasing, which has lengthy, noncancelable contracts. Other complaints are from merchants who were surprised to see more fees on their bills than they bargained for, claiming that sales reps didn't disclose them.

You can avoid these problems by purchasing your equipment rather than leasing it and reading the full contract before you sign up with Fiserv (or any other processing service). This is important, because it's the only way you can verify that the waivers you were promised are documented, that you're aware of all rates and fees, and that you know how long the term is and how to cancel without penalty if you choose to do so. 

Here are some additional drawbacks to keep in mind before signing up with this company:

• Even though Fiserv offers its services to small businesses and is very interested in working with this market segment, small businesses that have a low processing volume may find less expensive processing services elsewhere. Experienced merchants with higher processing volumes may be able to negotiate better rates, fewer fees and month-to-month terms.

• Although you need to review the contract in full before filling out Fiserv's application, you may need to fill out the company's pre-application form to get it, according to the reps we spoke with. One noted that we could withhold our personal information (bank account and Social Security numbers) but did need to provide business information.

• You can't find Fiserv's interchange-plus pricing online, which is inconvenient if you want to see whether it's in your price range. You'll need to call the company for a pricing quote specific to your business, though you can also use Fiserv's live chat service if you're more comfortable with that communication channel.

Pricing and Terms

If your business doesn't accept many credit card payments each month, you may find it expensive to work with a full-service processor that has a monthly minimum processing requirement and a handful of regular fees, such as monthly statement and gateway fees and an annual PCI compliance fee. Choosing a processor like PayPal that has flat-rate pricing and pay-as-you-go terms can save you money, since you'll only pay for the processing you use.

PayPal is very transparent with its pricing; you can find all of its rates and fees posted on its website. Here's what you'll pay when you accept credit cards using PayPal:

Accepting credit card payments in person using PayPal Here

• 7% of each transaction for credit cards, debit cards, and contactless payments you accept in person using the PayPal Here app and a card reader. The rate is the same, no matter what type of credit or debit card your customer uses – including mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay.
  
  
• 5% + $0.15 of each transaction for the credit and debit cards you manually key or scan in using the PayPal Here app. If you don't yet have a card reader and need to accept credit card payments, you'll pay this higher rate.

To promote its QR code payments, PayPal is charging a reduced rate of 2.2% of each QR code transaction until March 31, 2021. After that, these transactions will cost 2.7% like other card-present transactions.

Accepting payments online or by invoice

• 9% + $0.30 of each online transaction for credit and debit cards you accept through your website or digital invoice.

Accepting credit and debit card payments using a virtual terminal

• 1% + $0.30 of each transaction for the Visa, Mastercard and Discover payment cards you accept using PayPal's virtual terminal (such as payments you accept over the phone, by fax or by mail).
  
  
• 5% of each transaction for the American Express cards you accept using PayPal's virtual terminal, PayPal Payments Advanced or PayPal Payments Pro.

You'll notice that PayPal's transaction fees are somewhat higher than those of full-service processors. However, it's still more cost-effective if your monthly processing volume is low, because you aren't paying account fees. If you use a full-service processor, you pay around $20 per month in account maintenance fees and have a monthly minimum of $25, which can be difficult to meet if you process less than $2,500 per month.

Here are the fees you won't pay using PayPal:

• No application fee or setup fee
• No monthly fee for statements and customer support
• No monthly minimum processing requirement
• No gateway setup fee
• No annual fee
• No annual or monthly PCI compliance fee
• No early termination or account closure fee

Incidental and Optional Fees

PayPal offers some additional services that cost extra. For example, if you need the money from your transactions immediately, you can pay 1% for an instant transfer from your PayPal balance to your bank account. Regular bank transfers are free and usually take one business day.

Here are some more optional services that carry fees:

• Chargebacks: $20 per incidence
• Recurring billing service: $10 per month
• Advanced fraud protection services: $10 per month plus $0.05 per transaction
• PayPal Payments Pro: $30 per month (allows you to accept payments directly on your website and includes a virtual terminal)
• Virtual terminal: $30 per month
• Cross-border fee: 5% is added to the transaction fee when you accept payments from customers outside the U.S. If your cross-border payments require currency conversion, it costs an additional 3%.

Special pricing is available for certain business types:

• Registered charities pay 2.2% + $0.30 for online donations; in-person donations cost the same as regular business accounts, at 2.7% for card-present transactions and 3.5% + $0.30 for keyed-in transactions.
  
  
• Businesses with transactions less than $10 may qualify for PayPal's micropayment fees, which are 5% + $0.05 per transaction.

Terms

There's no long-term contract requirement with PayPal; you accept a user agreement instead of signing a contract. As your business grows and your processing volume increases to the point where the savings from lower rates would surpass the account fees, you can close your PayPal account and switch to a full-service processor at any time without penalty.

Features

One of the best things about PayPal is that you can accept various payment methods simultaneously – on the go and at brick-and-mortar locations using QR codes or a card reader and online using invoices, social media, and your website – and the money from all of your transactions goes into one PayPal account, making it easier to manage your finances.

Here are more features PayPal offers:

Free Basic POS Software

To accept payments in person at your business or on the go, you install the PayPal Here app on your phone or tablet and attach a credit card reader. This mobile credit card processing app includes point-of-sale features that help you run your business. Here's what it can do:

• Accept credit and debit card payments
• Record checks and cash payments
• Create an inventory list and add photos of items
• Add multiple users to your account and manage their access
• Set taxes, suggest tip amounts, apply discounts at checkout
• Email, text or print receipts
• Refund sales
• Generate sales reports
• Transfer funds from your PayPal balance to your bank account or your PayPal Business Debit Mastercard

Card Reader Options

PayPal has several card readers for you to choose from. They are all EMV compliant and connect to your phone or tablet via Bluetooth. PayPal also sells receipt printers, cash drawers, stands and cases.

• Chip and swipe reader: $24.99. You can accept magstripe and chip cards with this reader.
  
  
• Chip and tap card reader: $59.99 (or $79.99 with charging stand). This model accepts magstripe, chip, and contactless credit and debit cards. It also accepts mobile payments from Apple Pay and Google Pay.
  
  
• Chip card reader: $99.99. This reader accepts magstripe, chip, and contactless cards as well as mobile wallets. It's the only model with a screen and a built-in PIN pad.

PayPal Integrations

One of PayPal's strengths is that it integrates with many business systems and applications. Here's a small sampling of the business solutions PayPal integrates with:

• POS systems like Revel Systems, TouchBistro and Vend
• E-commerce platforms, such as 3dcart, BigCommerce and Shopify
• Accounting software, including QuickBooks, Xero and Zoho Books

Online Payments

PayPal makes it easy to accept credit, debit and PayPal payments online. It offers a few different ways to do this, including a payment gateway option.

• PayPal Checkout: There's no monthly fee for this plan; all you pay are the processing fees for your online transactions. On this plan, you place buy buttons on your website that redirect your customer to a checkout page hosted by PayPal. Some e-commerce platforms already have this feature built into their platforms.
  
  
• PayPal Payments Pro: This plan costs $30 per month. With it, you can design and host the checkout pages yourself. It includes a virtual terminal that you can use to key in credit card information for sales made over the phone or by fax or mail.
  
  
• Payflow (payment gateway): If you need a payment gateway for your website and want it to have a secure payment template that you can embed, Payflow Link may be a good option for you. With it, you can accept credit and debit card payments as well as PayPal payments on your website. It costs 10 cents per transaction (above the processing rates you pay your other processor), with no setup or monthly fees. If you require a fully customizable solution, you can get Payflow Pro for $25 per month, but this option has a $99 setup fee.
  
  
• Pay in 4 and PayPal Credit: These programs pay you upfront but allow your customers to pay for their purchases over time, either in four payments or over a set period.
  
  
• Sell on Social: This feature lets you create shopping links for your product listing that you can share on social media channels, chat and email.

Online Invoicing

You can create and send invoices by logging in to PayPal's website with your business account credentials or by using the PayPal Business app on your phone or tablet. Your customer receives an email with a link, clicks the link to open the invoice, and can then choose to pay the invoice using their credit or debit card or their PayPal account. There's no cost to send invoices; when receiving payments from your customers, you pay 2.9% + $0.30 for each transaction.

• Invoicing with Messenger: If you and your customers use Facebook, you can create invoices in Messenger to send to your customers. Your customers can click on the invoice in your message to pay it using their PayPal account. 

• PayPal Commerce platform: Startups with online marketplaces, crowdfunding platforms and other e-commerce solutions can use this advanced payment platform to allow their sellers to accept payments from buyers around the globe.

If your small business sells to customers in other countries, PayPal is a good processor for you. It accepts payments made in over 100 currencies around the world.

Additional Considerations

Here's some additional information about PayPal for you to keep in mind as you decide which payment processing company is the best fit for your business.

Customer Service

If you run into an issue using PayPal, you can call or email the company 24/7 or use the self-help resources on its website, which include live chat, FAQs, a searchable knowledgebase, how-to guides, a community forum, and its Resolution Center that assists with customer disputes. Although the company lists extended phone hours on its website, a company rep told us that you can actually reach a customer service representative 24/7, though if you call after hours, your call may be routed to one of its international offices.

Security

PayPal uses multiple security measures to keep your customers' payment data safe, including end-to-end encryption and 24/7 transaction monitoring. It complies with the data security standards established by the Payment Card Industry, and most of its card readers are EMV compliant, which deters counterfeit fraud. Your account is password-protected, and you can add a second authentication factor using PayPal Security Key, which sends a unique one-time PIN code to your phone via text.

PayPal Business Debit Mastercard

Using this card, you can spend your PayPal funds at any store and receive 1% cash back on qualified purchases. You can also withdraw cash from in-network ATMs. There's no annual fee for this business debit card.

PayPal Business Loan and PayPal Working Capital

Eligible merchants can receive small business loans and working capital through PayPal.

Drawbacks

PayPal is a great solution for low-volume businesses, as it allows you to accept credit, debit, and PayPal payments in person and online on a pay-as-you-go basis, with no monthly or annual account maintenance fees and no long-term contract. However, if you go beyond the basic credit card processing services, there are lots of little fees to keep track of, and they could add up quickly. To PayPal's credit, it lists these fees in full on its website.

Another issue to be aware of is held funds and frozen accounts, which is the cause of many online complaints. This problem isn't exclusive to PayPal – you'll find similar complaints about other payment facilitators online – as this type of payment processor tends to be more wary of fraud than traditional processors, and irregular patterns in your processing, such as spikes in transaction amounts or frequency, can raise red flags.

Following PayPal's best practices for sellers reduces the likelihood of having your money held in a reserve account. Also make sure that the products or services your business provides are within PayPal's acceptable use policy; otherwise, your funds may be frozen or your account closed without notice.

Although FIS is a giant in the payments industry that works with large corporations like banks and ISO/MSP processing companies, it also works directly with small businesses. It offers every form of processing, including omnichannel solutions, and tech savvy businesses can use its developer tools to create custom integrations. It also has very competitive rates and a one-year contract that you can cancel without penalty when you provide 30 days' written notice. For these reasons, we selected FIS as the best direct processor for small businesses. 

Editor's note: Looking for information on credit card processing? Use the questionnaire below, and our vendor partners will contact you with the information you need: 

Visit our best picks page to see all of our recommendations for credit card processing companies. If you're looking for the processor with the lowest overall pricing, see our pick for the best credit card processing company for small businesses. 

Pricing and Terms

FIS doesn't post its pricing on its website, so you'll need to call the company and speak with a sales rep or fill out the "build a quote" questionnaire to receive a pricing quote via email. 

When we called FIS, posing as a small business owner with a retail store, the sales rep quoted us both interchange-plus and flat rates. We didn't have to specifically request interchange-plus, and the rep recommended this pricing model for us as it would be less expensive. This is impressive – especially from a large processor – as most prefer to set you up with tiered pricing. Industry experts recommend interchange-plus pricing because it is more transparent than other pricing models ‒ the markup percentage and per-transaction fee you pay the processor is the same no matter what type of credit and debit cards you accept. 

Here's what we were quoted. 

• Interchange-plus rate: 0.20% + $0.10 above interchange
• Flat rate: 2.75% + $0.15 

Credit Card Processing Fees

There aren't any additional fees for the flat-rate pricing model, but FIS charges a monthly fee for its interchange-plus plan, as do most full-service processors. The contract also notes a monthly chargeback service fee, which is somewhat irregular. If you have two or fewer chargebacks per year, your overall monthly fees are around $20 per month, which is an average dollar amount for total monthly fees. However, if you have more than two chargebacks each year, the monthly rate is higher than average. Most service providers don't charge this fee but instead have a chargeback fee – usually around $25 – that they charge on a per-incidence basis. 

Here are the recurring fees you'll pay if you choose the interchange-plus plan:

• Monthly fee, which includes PCI compliance support: $5.95 (the rep said this was discounted from the regular amount of $24.95)
• Monthly minimum: $25
• Monthly chargeback fee: $10 to $50. The amount you pay for this fee is based on the number of chargebacks you have within a year. If you've had no chargebacks, it costs $10 per month. One or two chargebacks cost $15 per month. Three or four chargebacks cost $20 per month and so on up to $50 per month when you have 22 to 25 chargebacks within a year. If you have 26 or more chargebacks within a year, you're charged $25 each instead of the monthly fee 

Here are the fees you won't pay with FIS:

• No application or setup fee
• No early termination or account closure fee when you give 30 days' notice
• No PCI compliance fee
• No annual fee
• No batch fee 

Like most processors, FIS charges some incidental fees on a per-occurrence basis. Here are some examples:

• Voice authorization or voice address verification services (AVS) fee: $0.60 per occurrence. These are charged when you call the processor to authorize a charge or to verify that the address a cardholder gives you matches the billing address the card issuer has on file.
• Retrieval fee: $2.50 per occurrence. This is charged when a customer's bank requests additional documentation for a specific charge, usually before initiating a chargeback.
• Nonsufficient funds: $15 per occurrence. If there's not enough money in your bank account when the company withdraws your regular fees, you'll pay this fee.
• PCI noncompliance fee: $19.95 per month. The sales rep noted that this is a fee you should never pay, as the company helps you achieve and maintain compliance with the Payment Card Industry's data security standards (PCI DSS). 

Payouts

FIS deposits the processed money from your transactions into your business bank account within one to three business days. The industry average is two business days. If you need to receive your money faster, the processor has a FastAccess Funding program for qualified merchants. With this program, your money is deposited daily – including weekends and holidays – and is accessible with a debit card that it provides. 

Terms

It's important to read through your contract (application, terms of service and program guide) to verify that the rates, fees and terms you were quoted are noted on the application, amended in the contract, or that you receive a written waiver. 

The initial term we were quoted in our testing is for one year, with no cancellation fee if we provide 30 days' written notice. The standard contract has a three-year term that automatically renews with additional one-year terms and requires 90 days' notice before the term expires to cancel your account. The standard contract also has an early termination fee of $495 per location plus liquidated damages (as stated, with the one-year contract, this fee is waived with 30 days' written notice). 

Features

FIS sets you up with a merchant account that lets you accept all major credit and debit cards wherever you do business, whether that's in a brick-and-mortar store or office, on the go at offsite locations or events, on your website, or over the phone.

Here are some of the features FIS offers. 

Processing Equipment Option

You can purchase a terminal or mobile card reader from FIS, and options include models from top brands such as Ingenico, Verifone and PAX. When we called, the sales rep offered us a free EMV-compliant Verifone terminal with no contractual obligations or additional fees. 

Payment Gateway

As one of the world's largest payment processing companies, it's no surprise that it has its own online payment gateway. FIS Gateway Services can be used for both mobile and online transactions. It supports more than 300 types of international payments so your customers can make online payments in their local currencies, which may be an important consideration for global e-commerce businesses. Hosted payment pages are available, as are integrations. 

Integrations

FIS has more than 1,000 software integrations, so chances are good that it will integrate with your accounting software, e-commerce platforms, shopping carts and point-of-sale systems. This payment processing company doesn't resell POS systems but integrates with hundreds of them, including popular options like Vend, ShopKeep and Lightspeed, so in most instances, you can continue using FIS as your processor. 

Virtual Terminal

You'll need FIS's virtual terminal if you want to process payments using your computer, such as for credit cards you key in when accepting orders over the phone, accepting ACH payments and setting up recurring payments. You'll also need virtual terminal access if you want to use a mobile card reader with your phone or tablet. 

Level II and III Payment Processing Solutions

Businesses with B2B and government customers that collect additional payment details – such as the information typically included on purchase orders and invoices – may qualify for lower interchange fees, which can save you money when you're accepting large payments on corporate credit cards. 

Reporting

FIS's reporting tools are available through Vantiv iQ, the processor's online self-service platform. With it, you can see your sales data in real time, displayed as colorful graphs on the dashboard. You can also generate reports, set alerts and have your sales data sent to you daily by text or email. 

Developer Tools

If you have developers on staff and want to create a custom payment integration for your website or mobile app, FIS offers multiple tools, including APIs and SDKs with documentation, sample code, developer sandboxes and simulated test environments. It also has a community forum and a developer's blog with payments technology articles, such as a how-to guide for adding Apple Pay to your mobile app and top trends for internet of thing payments. 

Additional Considerations

Here's some additional information about FIS to keep in mind as you look for the best credit card processor for your business. 

Application Process

After you call for a quote, the sales rep sends you a link to an online application. After you fill it out and submit a voided business check, it takes between 24 and 48 hours for the company to approve your application and set up your account. It then ships your terminal and can send it overnight, if needed. 

Security

Data security is a top concern for payment solutions providers. FIS has multiple security protocols in place to help you keep your customers' sensitive payment data safe. It uses point-to-point encryption that prevents hackers from accessing card data as it travels from your system to the processor and tokenization that replaces card details with randomly generated tokens. It requires you to be PCI compliant, and sells EMV-compliant credit card terminals so you can accept chip cards properly and avoid counterfeit fraud liability. 

To help you achieve and maintain PCI compliance, FIS includes its OmniShield Assure program as part of your monthly fee. The sales rep we spoke with explained that the company proactively helps its merchants achieve and maintain PCI compliance. Your rep can help you if you need assistance filling out the annual questionnaire, and the company provides quarterly scans to ensure your system complies with PCI data security standards. It also includes breach insurance that covers up to $100,000 of your liability, should you experience a data breach. 

Customer Service

FIS provides its merchants with 24/7/365 customer support across multiple channels, including phone, live chat, email and online contact forms. When we called the credit card processing company, posing as a small business retailer, the sales rep we spoke with was eager to work with us and offered interchange-plus rates and favorable terms. After our call, she followed up with us quickly, with a link to an application that included the rates she quoted us and terms of service for us to review. 

The company's website is searchable, and you can find educational articles about credit card processing and detailed information about the services FIS provides. You can also visit the subscription center to sign up for newsletters, product updates, promotions and information about events the company is hosting or attending. On its support page, you'll find phone numbers, login links and support guides for its online payment gateway. If you stumble across the old Vantiv support page, you'll find a searchable knowledgebase and a link to a merchant support video library. FIS merchants can also find guides and user training on the iQ reporting platform. 

Limitations

The company's online presence continues to be split between FIS and Vantiv websites, which is somewhat confusing – especially when you're redirected from one site to another. However, both sites appear to be maintained and up to date. Vantiv site's logo has been updated with the tagline "Now FIS," which is useful information for small business owners redirected from the FIS site. 

The chargeback service fee that the processor charges monthly instead of a per-incidence chargeback fee may be an extra expense for some companies. For example, if you average two chargebacks per year, you pay $10 per month, totaling $120 per year, which is more expensive than the $25 per incidence, totaling $50 per year, that most processors charge. 

The company doesn't post its rates, fees or equipment pricing. Although the sales rep we spoke with offered us competitive rates, favorable terms and a free terminal, we recognize that others may have a different experience, depending on the sales rep they speak with.

Editor's note: Looking for the right credit card processor for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.

Pricing and Terms

The best online credit card processing companies have clear, transparent pricing and terms of service. Stripe is a good example of this, as it posts detailed information about its rates and transaction fees, and you can read all of its service agreements on its website.

Stripe has simple flat-rate pricing and charges very few fees. There's no additional cost to use Stripe's integrations, prebuilt checkout form or developer tools.

Here's what you'll pay when you accept credit card payments online using Stripe Payments:

Accepting Online Payments

• 9% + $0.30 for domestic credit and debit card payments, no matter what type or brand of card your customer uses, or if they use a digital wallet.
  
  
• 8% with a $5 cap for ACH debit transfers. Stripe also allows you to accept ACH credit and wire transfers, and you can view pricing for these payment methods on the company's website.

Accepting In-Person Credit Card Payments Using Stripe Terminal

• 7% + $0.05 per transaction, regardless of card type or brand.

Stripe offers volume discounts for businesses that process more than $100,000 per month, and custom pricing is available for businesses that have microtransactions or abnormally large sales tickets. Nonprofits may qualify for special pricing.

These are some of the incidental fees you may encounter while using Stripe:

• If you need an instant payout, it costs 1%, with a minimum fee of 50 cents.
  
  
• If you accept international cards, you add 1% to the transaction rate, and if currency conversion is necessary, it costs an additional 1%.
  
  
• If a customer disputes a charge and requests a payment reversal, you pay a $15 chargeback fee. If the dispute is resolved in your favor, however, Stripe refunds this fee, which most processors don't do.
  
  
• If you issue a refund, there's no fee, but it doesn't return the original processing fee to you.

Here's a list of the fees you won't pay when you use Stripe as your online payment processing company:

• No application or setup fee
• No monthly fees for statements or customer service
• No monthly minimum processing requirement
• No payment gateway setup fee
• No monthly payment gateway fee
• No annual fee
• No PCI compliance fee
• No early termination or account closure fee

Optional Fees

Stripe offers several other products, such as Stripe Billing, Stripe Connect, Radar for Fraud Teams, Stripe Sigma and Stripe Atlas. If you choose to use them, other fees apply. You can learn more about these products and what they cost on the company's website.

Payouts

Once you begin accepting credit card payments using Stripe, you must wait seven to 14 days for the company to transfer the money from your transactions into your bank account. After this initial payout, your funds are transferred on a rolling schedule.

Most businesses are on the two-day rolling schedule – which is an average amount of time – but if Stripe considers your business to be a higher risk, you may be placed on a seven- or even 14-day schedule.

If your cash flow is often tight and you need to receive your money faster, instant payouts are available for 1% (with a minimum fee of 50 cents).

Terms of Service

Stripe Payments offers its services on a pay-as-you-go basis, so you can close your account at any time without incurring high early termination fees. Instead of signing a multiyear contract, you accept a service agreement that you can read in full on the company's website. As with all payment processing companies, you should take the time to read this document before signing up with the company to make sure it's a good fit for your business and you understand what you're agreeing to.

Like many processors that offer flat-rate pricing with few fees, Stripe doesn't provide you with your own merchant account, setting you up as a submerchant under its master merchant account instead. This has some advantages, such as faster account setup that doesn't require a credit check and simplified PCI compliance with no related fees. However, Stripe and other merchant aggregators receive a lot of complaints online about frozen funds and sudden account terminations. You can reduce your chances of experiencing these issues by reading the service agreement and complying with its terms.

Make sure that:

• Your business type and the products and services you sell aren't on Stripe's list of prohibited businesses.
• You use Stripe's services as they're intended to be used. For example, you can't use Stripe Dashboard as a virtual terminal except in rare circumstances. Using it in this manner on a regular basis is specifically forbidden in the service agreement.
• You comply with network rules and do your part to keep card data secure, in accordance with PCI standards.

As the company explained in a letter to the Better Business Bureau, per its service agreement, Stripe reserves the right to hold your funds in a reserve account if it suspects a risk of loss or fraud, or if you have a lot of chargebacks. It may close your account if it determines your business is a fraud or credit risk, if you offer products or services on its prohibited businesses list, use the service in an unauthorized way, or violate terms of the agreement.

Features

Stripe says that it offers more than 100 features, and this wealth of capabilities allows many different business types and sizes to use Stripe as their online payment processing service. You can choose from premade solutions that you connect to with just a few clicks or payment flows custom-built by your development team.

Stripe is regularly updated, and each month the company posts a changelog on its blog that shows new features or improvements to its existing capabilities.

Here are some of the products and features Stripe offers.

Integrations

The easiest way to use Stripe is to connect to it from one of the business applications you already use. Stripe offers hundreds of integrations across multiple categories, so you can start accepting payments quickly, then automatically sync your sales data to the other programs you use. For example, if you use an e-commerce platform for your online store, you can choose Stripe as your payment processor and connect to your account with just a few clicks. You can then connect your Stripe account to many of the other programs you already use, such as your accounting, invoicing, inventory management, CRM and email marketing software. Plugins for third-party services are also available.

Checkout

The second easiest way to use Stripe is to embed Stripe Checkout, a premade checkout form, into your existing website. To do this, you copy and paste a few lines of JavaScript. The form redirects the customer to a Stripe-hosted payment page that you can customize with your branding and product images. Checkout is PCI compliant and tokenizes your customers' payment data so it's never stored on your server.

Stripe Elements

If you have some coding skills, you can use Stripe's prebuilt UI elements – input fields and buttons – to create a custom checkout form that complements the look and feel of your website. Like Stripe Checkout, Elements is PCI compliant, and Stripe takes care of the heavy back-end coding – all you're doing is customizing the look and format of the checkout form.

Stripe.js

This method for using Stripe to accept payments on your website requires more development know-how, as it allows you to use Stripe's JavaScript library and APIs to build a checkout form of your own.

Stripe Billing

This API allows you to customize a solution for recurring payments and subscription billing. You can decide how to charge customers, such as with a flat recurring fee or based on their product usage or tier, and how frequently you bill them. You can also offer discounts and trial periods.

It has a customer portal that your customers can use to manage their billing details themselves – which saves you time, since your customers can check their billing histories, upgrade or downgrade their subscriptions, cancel their subscriptions, and update their payment methods without your help.

This is a prebuilt solution, which means it's easy to set up, and Stripe hosts it to keep it secure. You can customize it to match your brand by adding your logo, brand color, and accent color, and you can add links to helpful information on your website, such as your terms of service.

Stripe Connect

Stripe can provide payment services for marketplaces and platforms – onboarding users, managing payments, handling compliance issues, tax reporting and more.

Stripe Terminal

You can now use Stripe to accept credit card payments in person. You can integrate Stripe Terminal into your existing checkout flow, or use its SDKs to create your own mobile or web-based app. The company offers two card readers to use with this payment method. Both are EMV-certified and support chip cards and contactless payments, including mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.

• The BBPOS Chipper 2X BT, which costs $59, is a mobile card reader that uses Bluetooth to connects to smartphones and tablets.
• Verifone P400, which costs $299, is a countertop credit card terminal.

Mobile Payment Options

If you have a mobile app, you can boost sales by adding in-app payments, letting your customers shop and complete purchases with it. Stripe payments are currently supported on iOS and Android devices.

Digital Wallet Support

Stripe allows you to accept payments from digital wallets. In addition to Apple Pay and Google Pay, it supports Visa Checkout, Masterpass by Mastercard, Amex Express Checkout, Microsoft Pay, Alipay and WeChat Pay.

International Currency Support

For businesses with customers outside the U.S., Stripe is a good option because it allows your customers to pay with their local currency. Stripe then converts it, so you receive your funds in your currency. It supports more than 135 currencies.

Dashboard App

Available for both Android phones and iPhones, the Stripe Dashboard app allows you to track your sales when you're away from the office. You can issue refunds, set alerts, and view daily summaries, reports and historical comparisons on the Android version. On the Apple version, you can also email customers, search transactions and create new customer subscriptions. 

Reporting

You can view your sales data and account balance history in the dashboard. It has several built-in reports, and you can export your data to CSV files. If you integrate Stripe with other programs, such as your accounting software, it automatically syncs to that application. If you want advanced reporting capabilities, you can use Stripe Sigma for an extra cost.

Additional Considerations

Here's some additional information about Stripe to keep in mind as you select a payment processing company for your business.

Security

Stripe takes data security seriously and has multiple security protocols in place to keep your customers' payment data secure. It uses tokenization technology, so no actual payment data is stored on your servers, and includes Radar, its fraud-prevention tool, with every account.

PCI Compliance

Stripe is a PCI Service Provider Level 1, the highest certification available, but you still have to comply with PCI data security standards and complete a self-assessment each year. It doesn't charge a PCI compliance fee.

Customer Support

If you need help using Stripe, you can email the company or use its online resources, which include searchable documentation, reference guides, articles, tutorials and FAQs.

Limitations

Stripe is unique in that it's designed for developers. While this is one of the reasons it's such a versatile product, it can be overwhelming for small business owners who aren't developers. Even figuring out how to use Stripe and where to find its easy-to-use products, such as its integrations and Stripe Checkout, is challenging, and you may need to hire a developer if you want any customizations.

Stripe doesn't provide inbound phone support. If you run into a problem while using the service, you'll have to email the company.

As discussed above, Stripe is like other merchant aggregators in that it's wary of risk compared to full-service processors. It may hold your funds or close your account if you have a lot of chargebacks or there's something irregular about your transactions, such as an abnormally high sales ticket, that makes Stripe suspect fraudulent activity.