The 10 Best Online Credit Card Payment Processors For Small Business
The eCommerce credit card processing providers on this list serve high-risk, high-volume, low-volume, international, or new businesses, among other criteria.

Online credit card processing can be tricky for new eCommerce merchants. There are more payment processing options than ever, from traditional merchant account providers to third-party pay-as-you-go processors. Whether you’re starting your first eCommerce business or want to add online sales to your brick-and-mortar store, this comprehensive list of the best online payment processors is for you.
Read on for summaries of the best online payment processors and a discussion of other considerations when launching an eCommerce store.
Learn More About Our Top Picks
Other Featured Options:
- Stripe Payments:
- Best for multiple payment method support
- Great for international sales
- Many sophisticated custom integrations offered
- Helcim:
- Best for an all-in-one platform
- Available in Canada
- Exclusively uses interchange-plus pricing
- CDGcommerce:
- Best for low rates
- Scales well to different transaction volumes
- Adequate toolset for most small businesses
- Durango Merchant Services:
- Best for offshore merchant accounts
- Dedicated account manager for clients
- Stax by Fattmerchant:
- Best for high-volume businesses
- Subscription-based pricing exclusively
Read more below to learn why we chose these options.
Table of Contents
- What You Need To Know About Online Payment Processing
- The 10 Best Online Credit Card Processing Companies For Small Business
- What You Should Look For In Online Payment Providers
- How To Choose The Best eCommerce Credit Card Processor For Your Small Business
- Common Questions About Online & Website Payment Processing
- In Summary: The 10 Best Online Credit Card Processing Companies For Small Business
What You Need To Know About Online Payment Processing
Let’s summarize the three main requirements to launch an online store.
The 10 Best Online Credit Card Processing Companies For Small Business
Which provider offers the best online credit card processing for your small business? The answer will depend on your particular business needs, but the companies profiled here collectively offer the most value for your money while providing honest, ethical payment processing.
1. PaymentCloud: Best For High-Risk Businesses
PaymentCloud |
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Pros
- Reasonable rates and fees
- Free credit card terminal
- Excellent customer support
- Shopping cart integration
Cons
- No publicly disclosed pricing
- High-risk businesses will likely have a monthly minimum
PaymentCloud Pricing
PaymentCloud offers both tiered and interchange-plus pricing models. Like many other high-risk specialists, the company has no pricing information on its website, but we’ve gathered some sample pricing ranges for low-risk eCommerce merchants (high-risk merchants will pay more):
- Interchange-Plus Rate: Interchange + 0.10%-0.50% + $0.15-$0.25 per transaction
- Monthly Fee: $15
- Gateway Fee: Variable, depends on the gateway
- Address Verification Service (AVS): $0.05 per online transaction
PaymentCloud Features
PaymentCloud is available to all manner of online merchants but specifically caters to businesses in high-risk industries (eCommerce merchants have a greater chance of being classified by banks as “high-risk” than other merchants). Here’s some of what PaymentCloud offers to online businesses:
- Payment gateway (Authorize.Net, which includes a developer toolbox with an open API for customizing your site’s integration, is one of the available choices; check out our list of the best payment gateway and API platforms to learn more)
- Virtual terminal
- Shopping cart integration (PaymentCloud integrates with a wide variety of popular online shopping carts)
- eCheck and ACH processing
- Contactless payment requests
- PCI compliance
- Data migration
Where PaymentCloud Really Shines
There are plenty of shady operators in the high-risk payment processing space. PaymentCloud stands out from the pack with its reasonable rates, stellar reputation among merchants, and the dedicated account manager it provides its users for guidance. Plus, the fact that PaymentCloud works with so many banks and back-end processors means you’ll have a higher chance of approval than with many competing processors.
2. Square: Best For Low-Volume
Square |
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Get a free card swiper from Square at no cost when you create a free account. Claim your card reader.
Pros
- Impressive feature set
- Predictable flat-rate pricing
- No (mandatory) monthly fees
- Available to Canadian businesses
- Strong POS support
Cons
- Account stability issues
- Advanced features require a monthly fee
Square Pricing
Square’s pricing makes it a great all-in-one solution for businesses with a relatively low transaction volume.
- Online Transactions: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (2.6% + $0.30 with a Premium Square Online subscription)
- ACH Bank Transfers (Via Invoices): 1% with a minimum of $1 per transaction
- Online Rate For CBD Merchants: 3.8% + $0.30 per transaction
- Monthly Fee: $0-$79/month, depending on your subscription level
Square Features
Square may be best known for its convenient POS hardware and expansive support software for small businesses. That said, Square does offer respectable eCommerce support and infrastructure. This includes a free online store (paid subscriptions are available for those needing advanced features) and shopping cart support, which can be great for businesses that are primarily brick-and-mortar but also do a portion of their business online.
- Cryptocurrency processing
- Currency conversion
- Invoicing
- Premade online checkout form
- Native eCommerce integrations
- Sell on multiple channels
- Sell internationally
- Marketing features
- Inventory management
Where Square Really Shines
Square offers a remarkably broad range of features for a payment processor with no monthly fees. And with Square Online, you’ll get an easy-to-use online store builder that provides a lot of value at the free level, while offering more features and storage to paid subscribers.
Lower-volume merchants stand the most to gain from Square, but this processor offers something for everybody, including CBD businesses looking to sell online.
3. Host Merchant Services: Best For Online Businesses
Host Merchant Services |
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Pros
- Transparent interchange-plus pricing
- Exceptional customer service
- HMS helps match you to a shopping cart
- No long-term contracts or early termination fees
Cons
- It can be expensive for low-volume merchants
Host Merchant Services Pricing
- Online Transactions: Interchange + 0.35% + $0.10 per transaction
- Monthly Fee: $14.99
- Annual 1099 Reporting Fee: $24
HMS Features
Host Merchant Services (HMS) is another full-service merchant account provider that offers transparent interchange-plus pricing with no yearly contract, great customer service, and a robust suite of eCommerce features.
- Virtual terminal and payment gateway (Transaction Express) offering tokenization and encryption of customer data
- ACH processing
- Recurring billing
- Check-imaging
- Wireless processing
- Shopping cart integrations
- Free basic website with hosting
Where HMS Really Shines
HMS’s processing services are competitively priced and are especially well-suited to those running a web hosting or cloud service provider business. HMS has a lot to offer other online businesses as well, as the company will provide you with a basic website at no additional cost and will work with your business to match you to the shopping cart that best fits your needs.
Get Started with Host Merchant Services
4. Dharma Merchant Services: Best For Nonprofits
Dharma Merchant Services |
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Pros
- Interchange-plus pricing is offered exclusively
- No annual fee or monthly minimum
- Month-to-month billing with no early termination fees
- Outstanding sales transparency and highly ethical business practices
Cons
- Not recommended for businesses processing less than $10,000 per month
- No support for high-risk or international merchants
Dharma Pricing
- Online Transactions: Interchange + 0.20% + $0.11 per transaction
- Online Transactions (Nonprofits Only): Interchange + 0.10% + $0.11 per transaction
- Monthly Fee: $25 ($20 for nonprofits)
- Chargeback Fee: $25
- Retrieval Fee: $5
Dharma Features
As a part of its eCommerce offerings, Dharma uses MX Merchant as its integrated payments platform. This all-in-one service combines the features of a payment gateway and a virtual terminal into a single product. You’ll have access to the following:
- Online reporting
- A customer information database
- A mobile processing app
- Recurring billing
- eCheck/ACH processing
Where Dharma Really Shines
Dharma Merchant Services — a long-time Merchant Maverick favorite — is a great merchant account provider for most businesses (particularly those processing over $10,000/month). Additionally, it may be the best processor around for nonprofits. Dharma offers discounted pricing for nonprofit organizations and partners with 4aGoodCause to provide nonprofits with donation pages and event registration services.
Get Started with Dharma Merchant Services
5. Shopify Payments: Best For Multiple Sales Channels
Shopify Payments |
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Pros
- Predictable flat-rate pricing
- Multicurrency acceptance
- Sync data from multiple sales channels
- Can take international transactions
Cons
- Account stability issues
- A monthly fee is charged
Shopify Pricing
If you have a Shopify online store, using Shopify Payments for website payment processing lets you avoid paying a Shopify per-transaction fee of .5%-2% (on top of the processing fee) with each sale. And if you’re building a non-Shopify online store, you can still subscribe to Shopify Lite ($9/month) to add buy buttons to your site.
- No 0.5%-2.0% Shopify Transaction Fee
- Online Transactions: 2.4% + $0.30 to 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, depending on your subscription level
- Monthly Fee: $9-$299
Shopify Payments Features
Using Shopify Lite with your existing online store can be beneficial, particularly for merchants selling items on Amazon, eBay, and/or other sales channels. You’ll be able to sync and manage your listings in a single location, and you can generate all your sales data and shipping through Shopify.
Of course, Shopify’s full online stores are feature-packed as well. And with the numerous integrations Shopify offers for dropshippers and suppliers, eCommerce merchants have many reasons to like Shopify.
- Omnichannel selling
- Shop Pay (Shopify’s accelerated checkout option)
- Developer tools
- Security features and PCI compliance
- Chargeback management
- Shopify shipping
- Local and curbside pickup
- Local delivery
Where Shopify Really Shines
Shopify is well-established as an eCommerce powerhouse, offering a complete online selling package for merchants large and small. And with Shopify Payments, you’ll pay less per transaction than if you use another processor with your Shopify shop.
Get Started with Shopify Payments
6. Stripe Payments: Best Payment Support
Stripe Payments |
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Pros
- Excellent developer tools
- Predictable flat-rate pricing
- Advanced reporting, marketplace, and subscription tools
- Can take international transactions
Cons
- Account stability issues
- Needs technical skills to implement
Stripe Pricing
Being a third-party processor, Stripe offers simple, flat-rate eCommerce pricing.
- Online Transactions: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
- International Transactions: +1%/transaction
- ACH: 0.8% (capped at $5)
- Chargebacks: $15
- No Monthly Fees
Stripe Features
Stripe Payments has always been closely tied to eCommerce and is known for its international acceptance, the wide selection of integrations, and exceptional array of developer tools. Other PSPs (such as Square and PayPal) are easier to use when you’re just starting your eCommerce business. But if you’re planning to use a web developer to design a top-of-the-line, slick-looking web store (and/or adding in-app payment functions), Stripe gives you more tools to integrate into your platform.
- Payment gateway
- Cryptocurrency processing
- Dynamic currency conversion
- Recurring billing and subscriptions
- Invoicing
- Developer tools (some of the best in the industry)
Where Stripe Really Shines
If you only want a simple online store, there are simpler processing solutions than Stripe. However, if your online business has unique needs and you’re in a position to take advantage of Stripe’s extensive developer tools, integrations, and international eCommerce capabilities, give Stripe some consideration.
Get Started with Stripe Payments
7. Helcim: Best All-In-One Platform
Helcim |
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Helcim is now available with NO MONTHLY FEE. Start Here!
Pros
- Exclusive interchange-plus processing rates
- No long-term contracts or early termination fees
- No monthly account fees
- Excellent customer support
Cons
- Not cost-effective for merchants processing less than $1,500 per month
- Not suitable for high-risk industries
Helcim Pricing
Helcim uses interchange-plus pricing exclusively. Your rates will decrease as your monthly processing volume increases.
- Online Transactions: From interchange + 0.20% + $0.10 to interchange + 0.50% + $0.25 per transaction
- Chargeback Fee: $0-$15 (depends on the outcome)
- No Monthly Fees: Online credit card transactions
- eCheck/ACH processing: $25/month and $0.25 per transaction
Helcim Features
Helcim offers payment processing services to US and Canadian merchants. Helcim’s integrated payments platform (Helcim Commerce) combines the functions of a payment gateway with other ancillary services that you’ll need to run your online business.
- Interntional payments
- Hosted online store builder
- Hosted payment pages
- Online food ordering
- Helcim API
- Virtual terminal
- Recurring billing
- Tokenization
- Product and inventory management
Where Helcim Really Shines
Canada-based Helcim is one of the top merchant account providers for Canadian businesses and a top-tier provider for US businesses. With a full slate of online selling features, completely transparent pricing, and a stellar reputation, Helcim should definitely be considered by any online merchant needing a full merchant account.
8. CDGcommerce: Best For Low Rates
CDGcommerce |
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Pros
- Free payment gateway and virtual terminal
- Month-to-month billing with no early termination fees
- Excellent customer service and support
- Scales well
Cons
- Only available to US-based merchants
CDGcommerce Pricing
- Online Transactions: 2.90% + $0.30 with the flat-rate plan, interchange + 0.30% + $0.15 with the interchange-plus plan, and interchange + $0.05 to interchange + $0.10 with the membership plans
- Monthly Fee: $0 with the flat-rate plan, $19-$49 with the interchange-plus plan, and $49-$199 with the membership plans
With CDGcommerce, your pricing plan will depend on your sales volume and whether or not your business is considered high-risk.
- Flat-rate pricing is for merchants processing $1,000-$10,000/month
- Interchange-plus pricing is for those processing $10,000 and $200,000/month
- Membership pricing for merchants processing over $200,000/month
- High-risk merchants may be accepted but will pay more than low-risk merchants (pricing for high-risk merchants is not specifically disclosed)
CDGcommerce Features
With CDGcommerce, you get your choice of free payment gateways, including Authorize.Net and the company’s proprietary Quantum Gateway. You’ll also get the following:
- Virtual terminal
- Detailed online reporting
- High-risk processing
- Recurring billing
- A security service (cdg360)
- A Fraud Loss Reimbursement Plan (FLRP) for users of the Quantum gateway
Where CDGcommerce Really Shines
Featuring services and pricing that evolve to match the needs of your business as it grows, plus transparent pricing and a reputation for ethical service, CDGcommerce is a very strong choice for online credit card processing. High-risk merchants may be accepted as well.
9. Durango Merchant Services: Best For Offshore Merchant Accounts
Durango Merchant Services |
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Pros
- Specialists in placing high-risk and other hard-to-place merchants
- Offers offshore merchant accounts for some international merchants
- Fair pricing and excellent contract terms
- Dedicated account manager for customer service
Cons
- No pricing disclosures on the website
Durango Pricing
Durango Merchant Services specializes in servicing high-risk businesses. The company does not disclose any pricing information or contract terms online; Durango works with numerous back-end processors, so these factors will be highly variable and subject to negotiation. If yours is a high-risk business, expect to pay higher processing rates than a similar low-risk business. Although interchange-plus is sometimes available, you’ll likely be placed on a tiered pricing plan.
Durango Features
Durango is an excellent choice for high-risk businesses needing online credit card processing. Durango also offers offshore merchant accounts for international merchants. Let’s go through what else Durango offers:
- Proprietary cloud-hosted Durango Pay gateway
- A variety of shopping cart integrations
- eCheck processing
- Cryptocurrency support
- Fraud protection
Where Durango Really Shines
Durango is one of the few high-risk providers of website payment processing that enjoys a great reputation for fair prices and contract terms. With solid services, a high degree of fraud and chargeback protection, and excellent customer support, Durango is an outstanding choice of processor for the right kind of business.
Get Started with Durango Merchant Services
10. Stax By Fattmerchant: Best For High-Volume Businesses
Stax by Fattmerchant |
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Pros
- Transparent wholesale pricing
- No long-term contract
- Next-day funding option available
- QuickBooks integration
Cons
- US merchants only
- Not suitable for low-volume businesses
Stax Pricing
Stax deals exclusively in subscription-based (a.k.a. wholesale) pricing in which you’re charged 0% markup on interchange rates and instead pay a monthly membership fee.
- Monthly Fee: $99/month, $159/month, or $199/month, depending on your subscription tier
- Card-Not-Present/eCommerce Rate: $0.15 + interchange fee per transaction
Stax Features
While Stax isn’t eCommerce-focused per se, it does offer a number of features for online businesses:
- Customizable shopping cart, plus integrations with many popular shopping carts and gateways
- Stax API for developers
- Centralized web portal
- Customer database
- Inventory management
- Invoicing and reporting
- Free Quickbooks Online integration
Where Stax Really Shines
eCommerce merchants processing over $10,000/month will find Stax’s pricing model very cost-effective. All things considered, Stax’s integrated payments platform, which offers centralized invoicing, data analytics, inventory management, and more, provides excellent value for online sellers.
What You Should Look For In Online Payment Providers
Let’s examine some eCommerce-specific issues related to online merchant services:
How To Choose The Best eCommerce Credit Card Processor For Your Small Business
When building your eCommerce operation, you have an abundance of capable online credit card processing providers to choose from. At first, a flexible, pay-as-you-go third-party processor may be just the ticket. But if you already have a high volume of transactions and want a better processing rate or a more reliable processor, you might consider a dedicated merchant account. Whatever your business situation, we hope this list helps you find the best online payment processor for your business.
Don’t compare on price alone, though! Consider all the features you need as well as compatibility with shopping carts and other services that benefit your business. Know what features you absolutely must have immediately and what you anticipate needing later on as your business grows.
Plus, as we explain in our piece on which businesses are considered high-risk, certain online businesses will need to confine their processing search to a high-risk specialist. As for our other eCommerce resources, our explainer piece on Click To Pay will help you understand this popular new checkout option.
In your experience, what have you found to be the best online payment processor for small businesses? Have you had any positive or negative experiences with the processors in this article? We’d love to hear your feedback, so leave us a comment below if you have a question or opinion on the subject.
Common Questions About Online & Website Payment Processing
In Summary: The 10 Best Online Credit Card Processing Companies For Small Business
- PaymentCloud:
- Best for high-risk businesses
- Low-risk accounts are available
- Square:
- Best for businesses with low-volume brick-and-mortar sales
- Free online store
- Powerful all-in-one service
- Host Merchant Services:
- Very competitive pricing
- Excellent customer support
- Dharma Merchant Services:
- Best for nonprofits
- Exclusively uses interchange-plus pricing
- Outstanding transparency
- Shopify Payments:
- Best for multiple sales channels
- Wide variety of integrations
- Stripe Payments:
- Best for multiple payment method support
- Great for international sales
- Many sophisticated custom integrations offered
- Helcim:
- Best for an all-in-one platform
- Available in Canada
- Exclusively uses interchange-plus pricing
- CDGcommerce:
- Best for low rates
- Scales well to different transaction volumes
- Adequate toolset for most small businesses
- Durango Merchant Services:
- Best for offshore merchant accounts
- Dedicated account manager for clients
- Stax by Fattmerchant:
- Best for high-volume businesses
- Subscription-based pricing exclusively
This website and blog are exceptionally amazing and great to see and we Know there are more card handling organizations we can look over out there however you’ve gathered together the absolute best among them..
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
I need virtual terminal gateway whereby i can keyed in the transaction manually on my pc.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Dennis,
Square would be the best option. Payline has one as part of its mobile plan too.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Your site and blog are very impressive and good to see. And also thanks for sharing this informative blog.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
We currently use Open Edge , a division of globalpayments, what are thoughts concerning this company, charges, customer service , features and capability to work with other software features ?
Thanks
Robert
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Robert,
Unfortunately, we haven’t yet reviewed OpenEdge, but we do make several references to it, in our Global Payments Review that you might find helpful.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
What are your thoughts on PayJunction?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Joe,
You can check out our in-depth review of PayJunction here.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
How does Magento fit in with these providers?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Ron,
Sellers who use Magento mostly add payment processors via pre-built integrations. These integrations let you connect your Magento account with a payment solution without doing any development. You can find these integrations for purchase in the Magento Marketplace.
If your favorite payment processor does not have a pre-built integration or gateway available in the Magento Marketplace, you can hire a developer to build a connection on your behalf. Keep in mind that this can be very expensive.
I hope that answers your question!
Best,
Liz
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Do you know anything about Cardinity.com? Planning to try their payment solution.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Thomas,
Unfortunately, we have not reviewed Cardinity, so we can’t confidently give an assessment one way or the other. That said, here is a great merchant account comparison chart of vendors we have reviewed. Best of luck to you!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Melissa / Jessica – Do you have a review of Vantage Payments? I have not seen one for them on your website.
Thank-you.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Dennis,
Thank you for writing! Unfortunately, we have not reviewed Vantage Payments, so we can’t confidently give an assessment one way or the other.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Why no mention of Ayden? The one replacing paypal on ebay. Seems if good enough for paypal they would be among the top ten.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Ed,
We actually DO have a review of Adyen! They are worth looking into, for sure. Thanks for the suggestion!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
This a good guide for starters. Doing it right from the start will save you fees. I’m sure there are more card processing companies we can choose from out there but you’ve rounded up some of the best among them. Definitely worth reading.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
What about integrating into an existing merchant processor like TSYS or Chase or Global. Would their ecommerce MID rates be competitive?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Mike,
You can get comparison quotes at CardFellow. I hope this helps and if you have further questions please let us know.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.