The Best Credit Card Processing For Dental Offices

Finding merchant services for your dental practice requires striking the right balance in terms of cost, features, and security.

• Frank Kehl Frank Kehl has been researching and analyzing merchant services, payment gateways, and international money transfer services since 2015. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State and a Juris Doctorate from the Ventura College of Law.

  Expert Analyst & Reviewer

• 
  May 18, 2022

  UPDATED

Dental credit card processing is a very important part of the “business side” of running a dental office. With credit card processing services and hardware from a reputable merchant services provider, dentists will save time tracking down overdue invoices and have more time to devote to helping patients.

Here, we briefly review the best merchant services providers for dental practices and give you some important tips on choosing the best merchant account for your practice. We’ll also explain what to be aware of with setting up your processing system, including account security, patient privacy (HIPAA compliance), and integrating your account with existing dental office management software.

Learn More About Our Top Picks

Company	Highlights	Next StepsHighlights
Dharma Merchant Services Read More	Interchange-plus pricing No long-term contracts Best for practices processing over $10K/month	Interchange-plus pricing No long-term contracts Best for practices processing over $10K/month Visit Site Read More
Stax by Fattmerchant Read More	Money-saving membership pricing Offers integrated payments processing platform Best for high-volume practices	Money-saving membership pricing Offers integrated payments processing platform Best for high-volume practices Visit Site Read More
National Processing Read More	Interchange-plus & membership pricing Month-to-month billing available Best for budget-conscious practices	Interchange-plus & membership pricing Month-to-month billing available Best for budget-conscious practices Visit Site Read More
PaymentCloud Read More	No account setup fees Excellent customer support Best for high-risk practices	No account setup fees Excellent customer support Best for high-risk practices Visit Site Read More
Payment Depot Read More	Transparent membership pricing No long-term contracts Best for established practices	Transparent membership pricing No long-term contracts Best for established practices Visit Site Read More

Other Featured Options:

• Helcim:
  • Exclusive interchange-plus pricing
  • No long-term contracts or early termination fees
  • Best for newly-established practices

Read more below to learn why we chose these options.

Why Your Dentist Office Needs Credit Card Processing

Like any other business, a dental practice needs to be able to accept payments. While the bulk of dental services will be billed to the patient’s insurance, there will still be plenty of times when either the patient doesn’t have insurance or their existing insurance doesn’t cover 100% of the bill.

When this happens, you’ll want to make it easy and convenient for your patients to pay you directly. Fewer and fewer people today are carrying cash or writing paper checks, making being able to accept credit and debit cards a critical part of your overall payment acceptance strategy.

The Best Credit Card Processing For Dental Offices

With some exceptions, dentist credit card processing involves most of the same features as processing for any other retail or service business. You’ll want to select a provider that offers fair pricing, low processing rates, compatible hardware and software, flexible contract terms, and excellent customer support.

The following providers offer all of these features and more, making them our top choices for your dental practice:

• Dharma Merchant Services
• Stax by Fattmerchant
• National Processing
• PaymentCloud
• Payment Depot by Stax
• Helcim

1. Dharma Merchant Services

Dharma Merchant Services Pricing

• Account Fee: $25/month
• Interchange + $0.15% + $0.08/transaction ($100K/month or lower)
• Interchange + $0.10% + $0.08/transaction (over 100K/month)
• Chargebacks: $25/occurrence
• Account Closure Fee: $49

Dharma Merchant Services Features

One of the best and most ethical providers we’ve found, Dharma Merchant Services offers a complete line of products and services for dental practices.

Here are the highlights:

• Free virtual terminal for keyed-in transactions (or dipped with optional USB card reader)
• MX Merchant payment gateway included with your account
• Supports invoice payments via your website
• Desktop terminals are available for purchase, starting at $229
• Credit card surcharging program available

Where Dharma Merchant Services Really Shines

Dharma Merchant Services stands out from its competitors by offering clear pricing disclosures, flexible contract terms, and excellent customer support. The company provides several specialized services for healthcare providers, including a fully HIPAA-compliant processing solution, support for payments from HSA and FSA accounts, and technical assistance with integrating dental practice management software into your payments system.

Dharma also has an excellent reputation among users and is one of our top-rated merchant services providers.

Get Started with Dharma Merchant Services

Read our in-depth review

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2. Stax By Fattmerchant

Stax By Fattmerchant Pricing

• $99-$199 monthly subscription fee (based on plan selected)
• Interchange + $0.08/transaction (card-present)
• Interchange + $0.15/transaction (keyed-in)
• 1% per ACH transfer ($10 maximum)
• Additional fees for optional add-ons (same-day funding, terminal protection, etc.)

Stax By Fattmerchant Features

All Stax merchant accounts include the following standard features in the price of your monthly subscription:

• Stax Pay integrated payments platform
• Free terminal or mobile card reader
• Virtual terminal
• Stax Pay mobile processing app
• Stax API for developers
• Invoicing
• ACH payment processing
• Customer information database
• Basic analytics and reporting features

Stax also offers optional add-on features, most of which require an additional monthly fee.

Where Stax By Fattmerchant Really Shines

One of the pioneers of membership pricing, Stax offers an all-in-one solution that eliminates most of the annoying extra fees that most providers tack onto your monthly bill. The company specializes in working with the healthcare community, and the Stax Pay integrated payments platform is fully HIPAA-compliant right out of the box. Dental practices rarely need fancy processing hardware, so the free terminal included with your account may be all you need to accept credit and debit card payments. Stax also supports alternate payment methods, including ACH and invoices that can be sent via text or email.

With true month-to-month billing and no long-term contracts, Stax allows you to change providers if things don’t work out. While Stax’s monthly subscription fees can seem relatively high, remember that this includes various extra services that you’d typically have to pay for separately. Also, with no percentage-based markup on your transactions, you’ll usually save money over traditional interchange-plus pricing. Be aware, however, that Stax’s pricing may not be ideal for dental practices that process a low volume of credit and debit card transactions on a monthly basis.

Read our in-depth review

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3. National Processing

National Processing Pricing

• $9.95/month account fee (interchange-plus plans)
• $59.00-$199.00/month subscription fee (membership plans)
• $7.95/month PCI compliance fee
• $39.95/month for cash discounting program (optional)
• $15.00/month + $0.48/transaction for ACH and echeck processing (optional)
• Interchange + 0.18% + $0.10/transaction (interchange-plus plans)
• Interchange + $0.09/transaction (subscription plan)
• Interchange + $0.05/transaction (subscription-plus plan)

National Processing Features

National Processing serves the healthcare industry but doesn’t specifically cater to dental practices. Nonetheless, its basic features and simple price structure make it an excellent choice.

Here’s what you get:

• “Free” credit card terminal available
• Offers ACH and echeck processing as an add-on
• Offers mobile processing with a Clover Go card reader
• Offers a choice between either interchange-plus or membership pricing plans
• No long-term contract if processing hardware is purchased outright

Where National Processing Really Shines

National Processing has long been a great choice for small or newly-established businesses, including dental practices. While it doesn’t offer a lot of bells and whistles, most dental offices won’t need them anyway. The company’s competitive pricing plans are fully disclosed on its website, making it easy for you to select the most cost-effective one for your business. While you can include a free credit card terminal with your account, we recommend purchasing it outright. That “free” terminal offer usually requires a three-year contract with an early termination fee.

The company also stands out for its excellent customer support after you’ve signed up for an account. We’ve found that this feature distinguishes the truly great merchant services providers from the merely adequate ones.

Get Started with National Processing

Read our in-depth review

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4. PaymentCloud

PaymentCloud Pricing

• No account setup fee
• No monthly minimum (low-risk accounts)
• Interchange + 0.05%-0.30% + $0.08-$0.10 per transaction (low-risk accounts)
• Processing rates vary by acquiring bank/back-end processor (high-risk accounts)
• $15/month account fee (low-risk accounts)
• Account fees vary by the acquiring bank/back-end processor (high-risk accounts)

PaymentCloud Features

PaymentCloud is primarily a high-risk specialist, but it also offers a full range of services to low-risk businesses.

Highlights include the following:

• “Free” credit card terminal available with each account
• Mobile processing solution available
• Virtual terminal included
• Authorize.Net or USAePay payment gateways are available
• ACH and echeck processing are available
• Paysley QR-code payment service available

Where PaymentCloud Really Shines

PaymentCloud is a top-rated high-risk specialist that also offers a very competitive package of features for low-risk businesses. Most dental practices will be classified as low-risk, with the rare exception of those that wind up in the high-risk category due to bad personal credit on the part of the owner. PaymentCloud’s pricing doesn’t include any account setup fees or monthly minimums for low-risk businesses, making it an affordable choice for a newly-established business.

The company also offers a free credit card terminal with each account, which will probably be the only one that most dental practices will need. A virtual terminal — paired with a compatible card reader — can turn your office computer into a credit card terminal capable of accepting keyed-in or card-present transactions. Be aware, however, that the company’s high-risk pricing is highly variable due to the number of acquiring banks and back-end processors it works with to get you approved for an account. On the other hand, low-risk pricing is both transparent and competitive with what other providers can offer you.

Get Started with PaymentCloud

Read our in-depth review

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5. Payment Depot By Stax

Payment Depot By Stax Pricing

• $59-$99/month subscription fee
• Interchange + $0.07-$0.15/transaction (depending on the plan selected)
• No application or setup fees
• No PCI compliance fees
• No early termination fee

Payment Depot By Stax Features

Payment Depot (now Payment Depot by Stax) caters to the healthcare industry and offers a complete line of products and services for your practice.

Here are the key features:

• Credit card terminals from Ingenico, Dejavoo, PAX, and SwipeSimple
• Mobile processing solution (uses the SwipeSimple card reader)
• Free virtual terminal with each account
• Payment gateway (Authorize.Net or other compatible gateways) available
• ACH and echeck processing are available

Where Payment Depot By Stax Really Shines

Payment Depot offers membership pricing plans that can save high-volume businesses a lot of money on credit card processing. Its monthly subscription fees are notably lower than those its parent company, Stax, offers. The tradeoff is that you won’t get as many of the bells and whistles, such as an integrated payments platform. However, most dental offices won’t need this level of sophistication anyway.

Payment Depot offers all the basic products and services you’ll need to accept credit cards, debit cards, and ACH payments. The lack of a percentage-based markup on your transactions can save you a significant amount of money on your overall processing costs, and the company’s use of month-to-month billing means that you won’t be stuck in a long-term contract.

Payment Depot by Stax also specializes in serving the healthcare industry but doesn’t provide much information about services specifically designed for dental practices. It’s a great choice for an established practice looking to cut the cost of accepting credit cards.

Read our in-depth review

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6. Helcim

Helcim Pricing

• Interchange + 0.30% + $0.08/card-present transaction (volume discounts available)
• Interchange + 0.50% + $0.25/card-not-present transaction (volume discounts available)
• Helcim Card Reader — $109/unit
• No monthly or annual account fees
• No PCI compliance fees
• No monthly minimum

Helcim Features

Helcim serves businesses in the US and Canada and offers a well-rounded suite of products and services for any business, including dental practices.

Here are the primary features:

• Proprietary Helcim Card Reader for in-person payments
• Helcim Payments app for mobile processing
• Virtual terminal included with each account
• Helcim POS software (requires tablet, laptop, or desktop computer)
• Access to Helcim API for customized API credit card payments

Where Helcim Really Shines

Canadian-based Helcim offers one of the most affordable credit card processing services we’ve found anywhere. The company doesn’t charge application fees, account setup fees, or even a monthly account maintenance fee. There’s also no monthly minimum, making it a great choice for very low-volume practices.

Helcim’s very affordable Helcim Card Reader and Helcim POS software are all you need to accept credit cards, debit cards, or ACH payments online or in person. All users are on a transparent interchange-plus pricing plan, with lower rates available as your monthly processing volume increases.

While its features aren’t as advanced as those offered by some other providers, Helcim offers everything a dental practice would need to accept payments from patients.

Get Started with Helcim

Read our in-depth review

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Why We Don’t Recommend These Merchant Services For Dental Practices

In the payments processing industry, name-brand recognition is never a guarantee of quality or affordable pricing. While generally good choices in their own right, some providers may not be the best options for a dental practice. You’ll probably want to approach the following well-known merchant services providers with caution:

Square

By now, everyone has heard of Square, and it’s a great choice for many small businesses. With pay-as-you-go billing and a very affordable suite of hardware products, it can be a great provider for a practice that just needs to accept the occasional credit card payment.

However, Square’s flat-rate pricing structure is actually more expensive overall at higher processing volumes. Also, you won’t get your own merchant account with a unique merchant ID number, leaving you more vulnerable to sudden account holds, freezes, and terminations. This problem is more acute if you accept a lot of high-ticket sales, which could happen if many of your patients lack dental insurance. We recommend that all but the smallest dental practices sign up with a provider that offers a true, full-service merchant account.

Chase Payment Solutions

Chase Payment Solutions is recommended by the American Dental Association (ADA), and many dental offices sign up with the company for this reason without doing any further research into competing options.

Unfortunately, Chase uses expensive tiered merchant account pricing plans for the merchant accounts it sets up for dental offices referred by the ADA. Despite its size and general big-business focus, Chase is a surprisingly good provider. However, unless you’re willing to negotiate aggressively for a more affordable interchange-plus pricing plan, it won’t be as cost-effective as the choices we’ve reviewed above.

6 Features To Look For In A Good Dental Credit Card Processor

Low overall costs are an important factor in choosing a provider for credit card processing, but they should never be your only consideration. Many other factors go into selecting the best provider for your practice, including the following:

HIPAA Compliance, Payment Security & Credit Card Processing For Dentists

Healthcare credit card processing has the same requirements that apply to any other business regarding security and privacy. Additionally, dental offices — like all other health care providers — must ensure compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Here’s a very brief overview of these requirements and how they relate to credit card processing for dentists:

HIPAA Compliance Requirements

According to the Department of Health & Human Services (DHS), basic credit card processing falls outside the scope of HIPAA requirements. As such, your credit card processor isn’t considered a “business associate,” and you won’t need to have a HIPAA agreement with them. The main reason for this is that your credit card processor usually won’t have access to protected health information (PHI). However, most processors today offer many services beyond simple credit card processing, and some of these services necessarily involve gaining access to PHI. Invoicing, billing, patient management, and accounting are examples of services where PHI could be passed to your processor, bringing it within HIPAA compliance requirements.

One way to protect yourself is to strictly limit the interaction between your office and your payment processor to payment information only. By doing this, your processor will remain outside the scope of HIPAA requirements, and you won’t need a business associate agreement with it. This can be very impractical, as you would have to establish strict procedures to ensure that PHI is never inadvertently passed on to your processor. Invoices, Explanations of Benefits (EOBs), and even patient notes in online payment forms would all have to be kept away from your processor. This approach might work for some very small practices that are only going to use basic credit card processing services and not integrated invoicing or other features.

However, for most practices, we recommend that you include your processor as a business associate and obtain an agreement to secure HIPAA-protected information at all times properly. With many providers offering a HIPAA-compliant solution out of the box, there’s no reason not to take advantage of this feature. Having these agreements in place can also protect you in case of a data breach, where both payment and patient information could be compromised.

PCI Compliance Requirements

Since dental practices have the same PCI compliance requirements as any other business, it’s good to be familiar with them and ensure that your practice is taking all appropriate steps to maintain compliance. While some providers charge discrete PCI compliance fees for services such as security scans, others include this cost as part of your monthly account fee or subscription. Also, most providers will charge you a monthly PCI non-compliance fee if your account is determined to be out of compliance. You can usually avoid these fees by ensuring that your Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) is kept up to date.

If you’re using a customer information management database to store card-on-file information, it’s also a good idea to enable tokenization and encryption features to ensure that you have the highest level of security available.

Payment Security

Your payment security requirements will be fairly minimal if you just plan to use a credit card terminal in your dental office for in-person payments. However, online payments through your website should be protected using every security measure available. Currently, this mostly means using tokenization and encryption, which virtually all credit card processors now offer. You might also want to consider using available anti-fraud programs to protect against the chance of inadvertently accepting a stolen credit card.

Which Credit Card Processor Is Right For Your Dental Practice?

Whether you just want a simple setup to accept the occasional credit card payment or you’re interested in integrating credit cards and other payment methods into your overall dental office management, a good payment processor can offer you the tools you need.

As with any other business, selecting the best provider comes down to three critical factors:

• Compatible products and services that meet your needs
• Fair, transparent pricing
• Flexible contract terms

The providers we’ve profiled above offer all of these features, although some of them will be a better fit for your particular practice for one reason or another.

We also highly recommend considering a provider offering a HIPAA-compliant processing solution with adequate security and privacy protection features included. Online fraud is surging these days, and even dental offices aren’t immune from becoming targets of cybercriminals.

Unfortunately, we can’t recommend any of the payment processors that integrate directly with the major dental practice management software suites at this time due to high costs and a poor reputation when it comes to customer support. Manually entering payment information into your practice management software won’t be very labor-intensive for most dental offices and could save you a significant amount of money in processing costs if you sign up with a reputable provider. Good luck!

In Summary: The Best Credit Card Processing For Dental Offices

1. Dharma Merchant Services:
   • Interchange-plus pricing
   • No long-term contracts
   • Best for practices processing over $10K/month
2. Stax by Fattmerchant:
   • Money-saving membership pricing
   • Offers integrated payments processing platform
   • Best for high-volume practices
3. National Processing:
   • Interchange-plus & membership pricing
   • Month-to-month billing available
   • Best for budget-conscious practices
4. PaymentCloud:
   • No account setup fees
   • Excellent customer support
   • Best for high-risk practices
5. Payment Depot:
   • Transparent membership pricing
   • No long-term contracts
   • Best for established practices
6. Helcim:
   • Exclusive interchange-plus pricing
   • No long-term contracts or early termination fees
   • Best for newly-established practices

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Frank Kehl

Expert Analyst & Reviewer at Merchant Maverick

Frank Kehl has been researching and analyzing merchant services, payment gateways, and international money transfer services since 2015. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State and a Juris Doctorate from the Ventura College of Law.

@fjkehl2

View Frank Kehl's professional experience on LinkedIn.

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