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Find the best merchant account to launch your eCommerce business, whether you sell subscriptions, retail products, high-risk items, or other goods or services online.
Shannon has been writing for Merchant Maverick about small business software and financing since 2015. She started writing professionally about business topics in 2005. Shannon has been featured in the Washington Post, Reader's Digest, US News, MSN, Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, and other publications. She has a bachelor's degree in English from San Diego State University and currently resides in San Diego, California.
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Shannon VissersShannon has been writing for Merchant Maverick about small business software and financing since 2015. She started writing professionally about business topics in 2005. Shannon has been featured in the Washington Post, Reader's Digest, US News, MSN, Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, and other publications. She has a bachelor's degree in English from San Diego State University and currently resides in San Diego, California.
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Nicolette began writing on small business topics in 2020. After hundreds of hours researching, testing, and assisting small business owners with web building and point of sale software, she is now an expert on all things eCommerce and point of sale. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Pittsburgh and resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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Nicolette KierNicolette began writing on small business topics in 2020. After hundreds of hours researching, testing, and assisting small business owners with web building and point of sale software, she is now an expert on all things eCommerce and point of sale. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Pittsburgh and resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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Our content reflects the editorial opinions of our experts. While our site makes money through referral partnerships, we only partner with companies that meet our standards for quality, as outlined in our independent rating and scoring system.
If you want to sell online, you’ll need an eCommerce merchant account. The best eCommerce merchant accounts for online businesses include a shopping cart to sell on your eCommerce website, a virtual terminal to key-in credit card payments, a payment gateway to process electronic payments, and security features to make online transactions safe and reliable.
This article briefly discusses the services you’ll need to accept credit cards online and the features you should look for in your merchant account provider. We also researched several different eCommerce merchant services providers to help you decide which one is right for your business.
Though there are many excellent online payment processors to choose from, the following providers are specifically geared toward eCommerce businesses that sell solely or primarily online.
Why We Chose Stripe As The Best eCommerce Merchant Account For Developers
Stripe is a very popular payment service provider with a massive feature set and a global reach. Stripe is a comprehensive payment processing solution that includes a payment gateway, payment processing, and many other ancillary services to run your eCommerce business.
Developers, in particular, will enjoy the excellent API tools Stripe offers for building a customized checkout for an eCommerce website. You can alternatively use a Stripe-hosted payment page if you only need a very basic eCommerce checkout -- or instead use Shopify if you want Stripe processing with a prebuilt eCommerce site (Stripe is the backend processor for Shopify Payments).
Stripe is open to merchants worldwide with numerous currency options and support for many alternative payment methods and local payment options across North America, the EU, and Asia.
Stripe Pricing
Stripe charges no monthly fee for its processing service and only charges a percentage and flat fee per transaction. Only advanced features such as subscription billing carry a monthly fee. Though Stripe has some enterprise-level customers that qualify for custom pricing, its flat-rate standard pricing works best for low-volume sellers.
Find pricing details below, including both standard fees and extra costs.
If you want to analyze your Stripe data using SQL.
Stripe Features
Below you can see a list of Stripe’s notable features and some areas where it is lacking. Note that Stripe is a payment service provider, so you don’t get a dedicated merchant account, and it’s not a suitable solution for high-risk businesses.
Strong points in Stripe’s favor include its international availability and its extensive API tools for customizable checkouts. Multichannel businesses that want to accept in-person payments in addition to eCommerce can do so using the Stripe Terminal SDK, but you will need developer expertise, as Stripe is not an “out of the box” POS solution.
Stripe Payments Features
Availability
Dedicated Merchant Account
PCI Compliance
High-Risk Accounts
International Accounts
Contactless Payments
ACH Processing
Digital Wallet Acceptance
EBT Acceptance
Virtual Terminal
Mobile POS Reader & App
With Stripe Terminal (requires programming experience)
Hosted Online Store
Hosted payment pages (not a fully featured store)
Payment Links
Payment Gateway Integrations
Stripe is its own payment gateway.
Shopping Cart Integrations
POS Integrations
With Stripe Terminal (requires programming experience)
BNPL Integrations
API Documentation
Currency Conversion
Recurring Billing
Invoicing
Cash Discount Program
Cryptocurrency Processing
When To Use Stripe
You have a low-risk business and the technical skills to build your own online checkout.
Part of PayPal’s ecosystem (integrates with other PayPal products)
Dedicated merchant account with gateway-only option
International reach
No monthly fee
Cons
High transaction fees
Minimal customer support
Doesn’t support high-risk businesses
Why We Chose Braintree For Best PayPal Checkout
PayPal Braintree (formerly just "Braintree") is PayPal's dedicated merchant account option, which means you will have better account stability than you'd get with a regular PayPal Business Account. You can think of Braintree as sort of the "next-level" of PayPal for PayPal merchants who have outgrown the service or want more customization options for their eCommerce website.
Multicurrency payments, awesome developer tools, extensive integrations, enhanced currency, and tools that help your website convert are just a few things to like about this eCommerce processor, not to mention its free price tag. Notably, Braintree is one of the only ways eCommerce merchants can accept PayPal and Venmo online without using PayPal (or Venmo) as their payment processor.
Optionally, you can use Braintree as a gateway-only option to integrate with a merchant account of your choice (for example, if you already have a merchant account you like for in-person selling and just need a payment gateway for online sales), though this option carries a monthly fee.
PayPal Braintree Pricing
Braintree’s pricing is as follows:
Pricing Overview
Item
Value
Pricing Starts At
$0/month
Contract Length
Month-to-month
Processing Model
Flat-rate
Card-present Transaction Fee
N/A
eCommerce Transaction Fee
2.59% + $0.49 (1.99% + $.49 for verified nonprofits)
Keyed-in Transaction Fee
2.59% + $0.49 (1.99% + $.49 for verified nonprofits)
Equipment Cost
N/A
For businesses processing over $80,000 per month, there is also the option to negotiate a custom pricing plan, with a choice of either flat-rate or interchange-plus pricing.
Extra Costs
Extra fees apply in certain circumstances, e.g., international transactions.
Braintree Payment Solutions Extra Costs
Price
Non-USD Currency Fee
1% (in addition to standard transaction fee)
Fee For Cards Issued Outside The US
1% (in addition to standard transaction fee)
Chargeback Fee
$15 per chargeback
ACH Direct Debit
0.75% per transaction (capped at $5)
Fee For Amex Transactions If Merchant Has Their Own Amex Account
$0.15 (on top of Amex’s fees; standard Braintree transaction fee does not apply)
Venmo Transactions
3.49% + $0.49 per transaction
Standalone Gateway Fee
$49/month + $0.10 per transaction and +$10/month for each additional merchant account (fees are in addition to processing rates charged by your processor)
PayPal Braintree Features
PayPal Braintree offers the following features. In addition to PayPal and Venmo, Braintree supports numerous other digital wallets, local currencies, and other payment types, and can be integrated into a POS for online selling. Braintree doesn’t have built-in invoicing, but you can add this feature by integrating with PayPal Invoicing or another invoicing software.
Braintree Payment Solutions Features
Availability
Dedicated Merchant Account
PCI Compliance
High-Risk Accounts
International Accounts
Contactless Payments
ACH Processing
Digital Wallet Acceptance
EBT Acceptance
Virtual Terminal
Mobile POS Reader & App
Hosted Online Store
Hosted fields, which you can embed into your own website
Payment Links
Payment Gateway Integrations
Braintree is its own payment gateway.
Shopping Cart Integrations
POS Integrations
BNPL Integrations
API Documentation
Currency Conversion
Recurring Billing
Invoicing
Cash Discount Program
Cryptocurrency Processing
When To Use PayPal Braintree
You would like an eCommerce processor similar to PayPal, but with advanced features.
Unsuitable for businesses processing less than $10,000/month
Account closure fee
Doesn’t accept businesses in high-risk industries
Why We Chose Dharma Merchant Services For High-Volume & Nonprofit eCommerce
There's a lot to love about Dharma Merchant Services, from its affordable interchange-plus transaction fees, to its amazing pricing for high-volume and nonprofit organizations.
Dharma supports in-person selling as well as eCommerce sales, but it doesn't skip on online offerings. You will have multiple options for gateways and shopping carts, as well as a virtual terminal and an online ordering solution.
Most of all, we love that Dharma is transparent in everything it does and posts all of its fees prominently on its website.
Dharma Merchant Services Pricing
Dharma offers interchange-plus pricing exclusively, but your monthly fee and processing rate will depend on your industry. Nonprofits and high-volume businesses will receive the lowest prices.
Find more pricing info for Dharma Merchant Services below.
For merchants processing more than $100,000 or 5,000 transactions per month, or for restaurants with a low average ticket of less than $25.
Extra Costs
Dharma Merchant Services Extra Costs
Price
Account Closure Fee
$49
Chargebacks
$25/instance
Clover POS Fees
Varies depending on Clover software plan
ACH Processing
$25/month and 0-0.20% + $0.40/transaction
Authorize.Net Gateway
$10/month and $0.05/transaction
Recurring Billing (via MX Merchant)
$10/month
Level 2/Level 3 Processing (via MX Merchant)
$20/month
Credit Card Surcharging (via MX Advantage)
$25/month
EBT Transactions
+ $0.10/transaction
Dharma Merchant Services Features
As you can see below, Dharma is a fully featured processor that is not short on options. Pretty much the only things it can’t do are accept high-risk or international businesses, or process crypto payments.
Dharma Merchant Services Features
Availability
Dedicated Merchant Account
PCI Compliance
High-Risk Accounts
International Accounts
Contactless Payments
ACH Processing
Digital Wallet Acceptance
EBT Acceptance
Virtual Terminal
Mobile POS Reader & App
Hosted Online Store
Payment Links
Payment Gateway Integrations
Shopping Cart Integrations
POS Integrations
BNPL Integrations
API Documentation
Currency Conversion
Recurring Billing
Invoicing
Cash Discount Program
Cryptocurrency Processing
When To Use Dharma Merchant Services
You have a higher-volume eCommerce business and would like to take advantage of interchange-plus rates.
Includes API documentation to customize your checkout
Free virtual terminal
Cons
Limited pricing info published online
Account setup fee
Requires long-term contract
Why We Chose Easy Pay Direct For High-Risk eCommerce Businesses
Easy Pay Direct is a high-risk specialist that focuses primarily on eCommerce businesses. With its extensive integrations with popular online shopping carts, support for high-risk and international eCommerce, as well as developer resources, most high-risk eCommerce businesses will find everything they need in Easy Pay Direct.
Easy Pay Direct offers its own EPD Gateway, which you can integrate with an existing merchant account. EPD is a popular gateway choice for high-risk businesses that want to sell on Shopify (as Shopify Payments/Stripe does not support high-risk industries).
Easy Pay Direct can also supply you with a full merchant account and hardware for in-person sales, if needed.
Easy Pay Direct Pricing
You can find pricing details for Easy Pay Direct below. These are the rates published on its website, but just be aware that pricing may be higher for high-risk businesses.
Pricing Overview
Item
Value
Pricing Starts At
$34/month
Contract Length
3 years
Processing Model
Flat-rate, interchange-plus, tiered
Card-present Transaction Fee
1.59% + $0.17 (high-risk rates may be higher)
eCommerce Transaction Fee
2.44% + $0.34 (high-risk rates may be higher)
Keyed-in Transaction Fee
Not disclosed
Equipment Cost
Not disclosed
Extra Costs
Easy Pay Direct Extra Costs
Price
ACH Transactions
1.6% + $0.29
Easy Pay Direct Features
EPD offers a varied feature set to high-risk, offshore, and eCommerce businesses, though the company doesn’t provide a lot of details about these features on its website. Before signing a contract, make sure you inquire to verify that the company offers the specific features you need.
Easy Pay Direct Features
Availability
Dedicated Merchant Account
PCI Compliance
High-Risk Accounts
International Accounts
Contactless Payments
ACH Processing
Digital Wallet Acceptance
EBT Acceptance
Virtual Terminal
Mobile POS Reader & App
Mobile payments via browser and card reader (no dedicated mobile app)
Hosted Online Store
Hosted checkout pages
Payment Links
Payment Gateway Integrations
Shopping Cart Integrations
POS Integrations
BNPL Integrations
Via myAbundant integration (for business coaches & consultants)
API Documentation
Currency Conversion
Recurring Billing
Invoicing
Cash Discount Program
Cryptocurrency Processing
When To Use Easy Pay Direct
Your eCommerce business belongs to a high-risk industry, such as CBD, Kratom, cannabis, credit repair, etc.
Recurring billing & subscription management features
No long-term contract or monthly fee
Accepts some high-risk eCommerce businesses
Cons
High transaction fees
Doesn’t accept all high-risk businesses
eCommerce-only solution (no support for in-person sales)
Why We Chose 2Checkout For Saas & International Businesses
If you simply need a payment gateway to accept eCommerce payments for goods or services online, 2Checkout is a lightweight solution with month-to-month pricing and no monthly fee. Software-as-a-service businesses (Saas) and global eCommerce businesses especially will benefit from 2Checkout's selling features, which include subscription management and international payment acceptance.
Known for its numerous shopping cart integrations, 2Checkout also offers its own hosted cart. Whether you sell subscriptions, physical goods, or digital goods, 2Checkout can meet your needs. 2Checkout even accepts some high-risk businesses, such as dropshipping.
2Checkout Pricing
2Checkout’s per-transaction fees are higher than industry averages, though its pay-as-you-go model eliminates the monthly/annual fees commonly charged by processors.
Transaction fees (and features) depend on which pricing plan you sign up for.
If you have a high-volume business and want to scale up.
Extra Costs
2Checkout Extra Costs
Price
Cross-Border Fee
2%
Chargeback Fee
$20-$45
2Bill (advanced subscription management add-on)
Not disclosed
2Recover (renewal recovery add-on)
Not disclosed
2Partner (channel distribution/automation add-on)
Not disclosed
2Service (premium services & dedicated support add-on)
Not disclosed
2Checkout Features
2Checkout is an awesome way to sell online, but please know that it’s a payment gateway-only solution, which means you can’t use it to process in-person payments.
Check out its feature selection below.
2Checkout Features
Availability
Dedicated Merchant Account
PCI Compliance
High-Risk Accounts
Accepts some high-risk merchants.
International Accounts
Contactless Payments
ACH Processing
Digital Wallet Acceptance
EBT Acceptance
Virtual Terminal
Mobile POS Reader & App
Hosted Online Store
Payment Links
Payment Gateway Integrations
2Checkout is its own payment gateway.
Shopping Cart Integrations
POS Integrations
BNPL Integrations
API Documentation
Currency Conversion
Recurring Billing
Invoicing
Cash Discount Program
Cryptocurrency Processing
When To Use 2Checkout
You need a payment gateway you can use to sell subscriptions or products online, including internationally.
Merchant Maverick has been researching the payment processing industry since 2009. Our writers have reviewed hundreds of credit card processors, merchant account services, and mobile payment apps, evaluating each provider carefully on several different metrics.
Weighted Rating Breakdown
Fees & Rates 35%
Contract 20%
Products & Services 15%
Sales & Advertising Transparency 15%
Customer Service 10%
User Reviews 5%
When comparing different payment processing companies and applications to one another, we consider numerous data points. Our experts start by comparing credit card processing rates, the presence of additional fees, contract length, sales practices, and the presence or absence of additional features and services, like point of sale software. Each provider is judged on its own merits and how well it stacks up to industry standards; then it is weighed against the other providers on the list.
We spend an average of 10-15 hours researching and updating each one of our lists, making sure every company or application included meets our internal standards for quality and reputation. Any list of recommended payment processors on our site might contain a mix of standard merchant accounts, third-party payment processors, mobile payment devices, and high-risk payment processors, depending on what our expert feels is the best fit for certain scenarios or business types.
For additional details about Merchant Maverick’s review and rating processes, please refer to any or all of the following methodology pages:
An eCommerce merchant account is a dedicated bank account where funds from your online payments are deposited until they can be transferred to your regular business bank account.
eCommerce merchant accounts include payment processing services, a payment gateway, online shopping cart integrations to add payment processing to your online store, and sometimes even a full website.
You must apply for and be approved for a merchant account and you may get a custom payment processing rate based on your industry, time in business, risk level, and sales volumes, among other factors.
Note: Though some features such as a virtual terminal are optional, eCommerce businesses require a payment gateway to take payments. We’ll discuss the exact functions of payment gateways below, but essentially, payment gateways are the online version of credit card terminals and are used to facilitate secure online transactions.
4 Must-Have Features For An eCommerce Merchant Account
There are some essential eCommerce-related features you’ll want in a payment processor.
Online Shopping Carts
An online shopping cart is software that allows customers to view your products and add them to a virtual cart for purchase. Your online shopping cart has to integrate with a payment gateway for customers to be able to securely enter payment information. It also has to integrate with your merchant account so you can transfer their payments to your business bank account.
You can connect your eCommerce merchant account to a popular, secure online shopping cart builder like Shopify or BigCommerce to build a beautiful online store and ensure a simple, secure payment process. Alternatively, you can choose an eCommerce merchant account like Square or Shopify that comes with a built-in online shopping cart for an even more straightforward eCommerce payment setup.
Payment Gateways
A payment gateway is a software service that securely uploads a customer’s payment information (credit/debit card numbers, bank account numbers, etc.) after they enter it online, encrypts it for security purposes, and sends it to your payment processor or merchant account for payment approval. If the customer has the funds in their bank account to cover the purchase, the transaction is approved and the customer’s online checkout is a success.
Again, payment gateways are required for eCommerce businesses to take payments. Sometimes payment gateways are integrated into an eCommerce service provider’s offering, while other times you can add a third-party payment gateway to your merchant account.
For example, Stripe accounts have the Stripe payment gateway service built in. Dharma Merchant Services, on the other hand, is a full merchant account provider with its own proprietary payment gateway as well as integrations with popular third-party payment gateway services like Authorize.Net.
In addition to helping facilitate online transactions, payment gateways provide security services to protect your customers’ credit card information, databases that can store your customers’ information (name, billing address, credit card numbers, etc.) to make future checkouts faster, and recurring billing functions.
Credit and debit card payments are a given. You may also consider taking Discover and American Express cards, digital wallet payments such as Apple Pay, eCheck/ACH payments, PayPal, and popular international payment methods (if you’re selling in several countries.)
Note: ACH payments are great for billing customers on a recurring schedule since they are automated, reliable, and typically cost less in payment processing fees. We highly recommend building ACH payments into payment pages if you sell subscriptions, services, or memberships. B2B businesses that invoice should also consider implementing ACH payments.
Software Integrations
Most businesses use several software products to manage their operations and take payments. Software integrations connect different products so they can communicate data and reduce the amount of data entry you have to do.
For example, connecting your online shopping cart with your accounting software means you won’t have to repeatedly enter the same data into different software.
Some eCommerce merchant services providers, like Stripe and PayPal, connect with virtually any cloud-based software available. Other merchant account providers, like Helcim and Host Merchant Services, offer an open API (application program interface) for you to connect your merchant account to any online shopping cart and accounting software.
Note: Working with an API can be difficult. Consider hiring a developer if you’re not very tech-savvy or choosing a popular payment services provider if you want all your business management systems to work cohesively.
How To Choose The Right eCommerce Merchant Services Provider
Which eCommerce merchant account you should use depends on factors like your payment processing volumes, your industry, and which software integrations you need, among other considerations.
If you have higher monthly sales volumes, own a business in a high-risk industry, or want to sell globally, consider getting a dedicated merchant account (e.g., Dharma Merchant Services, Easy Pay Direct, Braintree, 2Checkout), which is less likely to be frozen, will offer better payment processing rates for larger sales volumes, and will, in some cases, process payments for high-risk businesses.
If you’re just starting out with eCommerce, a payment services provider (e.g., Stripe, Square, PayPal, Shopify) might be a more suitable — and more affordable — fit.
Shannon has been writing for Merchant Maverick about small business software and financing since 2015. She started writing professionally about business topics in 2005. Shannon has been featured in the Washington Post, Reader's Digest, US News, MSN, Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, and other publications. She has a bachelor's degree in English from San Diego State University and currently resides in San Diego, California.
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone.
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