6 Best Clover Merchant Services Providers In 2023 (And 6 To Avoid)

We believe that National Processing is a great service for businesses that want low rates from a reliable company. Interchange-plus pricing combined with low-cost monthly plans means you’ll save money using your Clover with National Processing. That’s true whether you have a low- or high-volume business and whether you primarily sell with a countertop POS, such as a Clover Mini or Clover Station, or prefer to use a mobile Clover Flex or Clover Go device.

If a problem should arise, you can rely on National Processing’s 24/7 domestic support, regardless of your account level.

We’re also big fans of the company’s price match and contract term guarantees. It’s easy to get early termination fees and other fees waived if you present the right competitor quote.

National Processing is a great merchant services provider for small to midsize businesses, with monthly processing plans for retail, restaurant, eCommerce, and subscription-based businesses. The company also offers eCheck processing, MOTO (mail order/telephone order), and cash discounting services (cash discounting is free!) If you have a high-risk business, National Processing does offer high-risk merchant accounts, as well.

You can integrate National Processing with eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce, or Ecwid. Note that BigCommerce and Ecwid integrations come at no extra cost, but integrating with Shopify will incur an extra fee (which is charged by Shopify, not National Processing). There’s also a QuickBooks accounting integration, and you can build a custom integration with National Processing’s API.

National Processing plans start at $9.95/month, which is charged on top of Clover’s monthly software fees.

A business on a Clover Register plan might expect to pay $49.90/month to use Clover with National Processing (but you’ll end up paying around this amount no matter what merchant account provider you end up signing with.)

National Processing’s processing fees start at 0.14% + $0.07 over interchange for small to medium businesses and can be as low as 0% + $0.05 over interchange for larger plans. National Processing also offers a cash discount plan for $39.95/month.

Even if you have a lower-volume business that only processes $10K/month, National Processing promises to beat the rates of any other Clover payment processor. If it can’t, you’ll get a $500 Visa gift card. We are usually a bit wary of those promises, but we’ve seen that National Processing is the real deal.

As with many Clover credit card processors, your credit card processing rate will vary depending on your sales volume and average transaction size. Luckily, National Processing provides a pricing calculator that will estimate your payment processing rate if you enter last month’s sales volume and the number of transactions.

In some cases, National Processing may charge an early termination fee of $495 or $595 (depending on which bank is backing your merchant account.) However, if you present National Processing (in writing) a competitor merchant account quote that has no early termination fee, or your business is sold/closed, National Processing will waive your early termination fee.

National Processing’s contracts are typically 2-3 years, but if you present the company with a competitor quote offering monthly pricing, National Processing should match that contract length.

Before signing a contract, make sure you get a monthly contract and that any early termination fee is waived. If this means you have to shop around for a better quote and ask National Processing to match or beat those competitor terms, do it.

We believe that Dharma Merchant Services is among the finest and most ethical Fiserv/Clover resellers we know of. The company gives the fairest and most transparent contract terms out of all Clover merchant account providers. You only pay for services you need, and there are solutions for a range of industries.

In line with its commitment to socially conscious business practices, Dharma is highly focused on sustainability, employs full-time employees (with no commissions or quotas) who all provide top-notch customer service, and even donates a percentage of profits to charities each year.

If you want to feel really good about the company you get your merchant account from, Dharma is your absolute best option.

Dharma Merchant Services is a socially conscious company that strives to provide excellent merchant account services to small/midsize businesses while remaining committed to its environmental and community-building mission.

With Dharma, you can take payments in person and online, over the phone, using a payment link or virtual terminal, and through invoices (which you can email to customers or businesses).

Merchants all have access to Dharma’s MX Merchant app, which allows you to store customer cards on file, search through transactions, and add on payments features like recurring auto-billing, an account updater that automatically updates expiration dates for card on file, and the MX B2B App.

B2B businesses using the MX B2B App automatically qualify for higher PCI compliance levels, resulting in reduced credit card processing rates (and hundreds of dollars in savings).

Dharma charges excellent in-person processing rates of 0.15% + $0.08/transaction over interchange for most business types processing less than 100K/month (at that point, you’ll get a special lower rate.)

Nonprofits are charged 0.10% + $0.08/transaction over interchange, which is just one of many reasons Dharma is one of the best nonprofit credit card processors.

While payment processing, a virtual terminal, card on file, and business reporting, you may add the following services:

• ACH/eCheck Processing: $25/month
• Invoicing/Recurring Billing: $10/month
• B2B Payment Processing: $20/month
• Account Updater: $25/month

Dharma charges a $25/month membership fee for its interchange-plus Clover payment processing.

Dharma charges the following one-time fees for Clover hardware:

• Clover Station: $1,649; full countertop register, receipt printer, integrated card reader, and cash drawer
• Clover Mini: $899; mini countertop payment device with integrated receipt printer and card reader
• Clover Flex: $649; handheld mobile POS device with integrated card reader and receipt printer

This pricing does not include monthly Clover software subscription fees, which range from $14.95/month to $49.95/month.

Dharma provides a wealth of information about terms and fees for Clover POS systems on its website. Dharma does offer Clover leases, but it’s very clear about the terms, and you are under no obligation to lease your equipment if you don’t want to.

If you request to have your account closed, you are charged $49. This is set because Dharma still has to maintain your account for six months after closure in case one of your customers disputes a transaction (and maintaining your account after closure costs Dharma roughly $8/month).

It is not a penalty for canceling your monthly contract early.

We like that VizyPay differentiates itself from the competition with its alternative Clover pricing model, which includes multiple cash discounting options as well as a traditional interchange-plus processing plan. This feature is great for low-volume businesses that do not want to sink money into payment processing fees, such as small restaurants or kiosk stands.

VizyPay also has good user reviews from those who like this processor due to its transparent month-to-month pricing and excellent customer service. You’ll get a simple, straightforward service with VizyPay without having to pay for features that other larger businesses may need.

VizyPay is a good option for lower-volume businesses that want to use Clover and want cash discounting. Cash discounting is a payment processing model in which your credit card fees are passed along to the customer.

VizyPay offers three subscription plans: Cash Discount, Traditional, and Hybrid. The Cash Discount plan allows you to pass all credit and debit payment processing costs to your customers, which means that you’ll pay nothing for payment processing. The Hybrid program passes through credit card processing costs to credit card users, and the Traditional program does not employ cash discounting at all.

You can use cash discounting for virtual terminal payments if you’d like. With a virtual terminal, you can invoice customers, save customer information for recurring billing, send text/email receipts, and export sales reports to QuickBooks.

VizyPay offers the following Cash Discount plans:

• Mini: $25/month; for businesses processing up to $5K/month
• Core: $50/month; for business processing between $5K/month and $10K/month
• Prime: $99/month; for business processing over $10K/month

The Hybrid plan costs $25/month. Under this plan, VizyPay charges the customer for credit card processing (4%) unless they pay with debit, in which case the merchant pays a fee of 1.5% – 3.5% + $0.25.

VizyPay additionally has a $15/month interchange-plus plan with fixed margins of 0.35% + $0.10 per transaction + interchange.

VizyPay hardware and software pricing for Clover (charged in addition to the processing plan fee) is as follows:

• Clover Station Duo: $2,125 + $69.90/month
• Clover Station Solo: $1,850 + $69.90/month
• Clover Mini: $975 + $24.90/month
• Clover Flex: $695 + $24.90/month
• Clover Go: $10/month

Since our last update, ViziPay has expanded its hardware offering to include the Samsung Kiosk, a standalone self-ordering restaurant kiosk that includes a built-in Clover Flex so customers may pay at the kiosk. This kiosk is great for fast food restaurants, bubble tea shops, gas stations that sell made-to-order food, and any other business that may want to incorporate self-ordering stations.

The kiosk hardware costs $4,199 plus $123.90/month for the software that needs to be installed on kiosks to sync with your Clover ecosystem.

You can buy your Clover hardware from VizyPay outright, though it also offers leases (which we don’t recommend). Plans are month-to-month with no early termination fee unless specified otherwise. Always verify your contract terms before signing to make sure you’re getting monthly pricing and no penalties for cancellation.

We like that Host Merchant Services is well-known for its excellent customer service and merchant-focused attitude. Plans are all month-to-month with no early termination fees, and the company may even help pay any fees you face when canceling an open merchant account with a different provider.

Businesses such as grocery and convenience stores should take advantage of the company’s easy EBT transaction onboarding program. In contrast, businesses with a small average ticket size (laundromats, car washes, small theatres, etc.) should consider applying for Host Merchant Service’s small ticket program.

Host Merchant Services offers merchant accounts for businesses in a variety of industries, including medical services, hotel/lodging/rental businesses, and high-risk businesses such as firearms sales.

The company offers a small ticket program, which allows businesses with a small ticket size (less than $15 on average) to save money on payment processing. You can also incorporate cash discounting if you like, and the provider has an EBT/SNAP transaction program that makes taking food stamps easy.

eCommerce sellers, subscription-based sellers, and most service-based businesses will appreciate Host Merchant Service’s virtual terminal offering. This virtual terminal is supplied as a link to a hosted, branded online checkout page that supports one-time and recurring payments. You can also take ACH payments and even receive images of checks using Host Merchant Service’s secure terminal.

Host Merchant Services charges a very reasonable $14.99/month for interchange-plus plans and charges the following interchange rates depending on your industry:

• Retail: Interchange + 0.25% + $0.10
• Restaurant: Interchange + 0.20% + $0.09
• eCommerce: Interchange + 0.35% + $0.10

The company’s cash discounting plan is free to businesses processing more than $5K/month and incurs a $20/month fee for businesses processing less than $5K/month. Host notes that the cash discount plan is only available to businesses that don’t need to use the tip-adjust option when processing transactions.

Unfortunately, Host Merchant Services does not list its hardware or monthly software pricing for Clover POS devices on its website.

Host Merchant Services has month-to-month contracts and includes an early termination fee waiver with your merchant agreement. Your payment processing rates given at the time of signing your merchant agreement will never increase due to any pricing increases on the part of Host Merchant Services.

If you are already signed on with a merchant account provider and face early termination fees when switching, you can ask Host Merchant Services if they’ll help cover any of those fees. The company has agreed to pay up to $250 in owed early termination fees for referred clients and $500 if that referral client processes over $50,000 per month. While this deal may only apply in a referral situation, it never hurts to ask!

PaymentCloud is one of our best high-risk merchant account providers specifically because of its excellent industry knowledge, great customer service, and the fact that its large network of acquiring banks and payment processors allows the company to find the best payment processing deal given your business’s information.

This company is dedicated to seeing your high-risk business flourish, and that starts with helping you get approved for a merchant account with good contract terms. You’ll have someone who is knowledgeable about your business on your side when you want to negotiate better payment processing terms or a lower rolling reserve requirement in the future.

Plus, PaymentCloud integrates with a number of third-party software that many business owners use, so you can have all your business tools connected.

PaymentCloud specializes in a number of high-risk industries and works with several banking institutions to find the best payment processing rate for your merchant account.

With PaymentCloud, a dedicated support representative will walk you through the application process. This representative will also “scrub” your application, social media presence, and website to increase the likelihood of your application approval. Your PaymentCloud support representative ensures your business is PCI compliant (without charging a PCI compliance fee), and actively advocates for your best interests with the banking institution and payment processors you work with.

PaymentCloud also offers chargeback protection and fraud detection tools and has industry knowledge of several high-risk business types, so high-risk business owners can rest assured that PaymentCloud will understand their needs and how to avoid common high-risk business pitfalls.

As with other Clover merchant services providers, PaymentCloud offers a virtual terminal for taking invoice, phone, and mail order payments, eCheck processing, and even cryptocurrency.

You can also integrate PaymentCloud with a number of eCommerce platforms including Shopify, BigCommerce, and ShiftShop, as well as customer relationship management systems and industry-specific software.

Like most high-risk merchant account providers, PaymentCloud does not disclose pricing information online. This is mostly because high-risk merchant accounts are highly personalized based on the business as well as the trustworthiness of the business owner.

You will probably pay at least $25/month to maintain your high-risk merchant account. You’ll most likely be required to have a rolling reserve account, and if your business is considered very high-risk, you may be required to use a tiered pricing model, rather than interchange-plus. Tiered pricing is the most expensive, but at some point, you have to take what you can get.

PaymentCloud will actively seek out the best payment processing terms for you and help with your account application to mitigate the riskiness of your business (on paper, anyway).

PaymentCloud offers month-to-month contracts with no early termination fees whenever possible.

While PaymentCloud works with its network of acquiring banks to find the best contract terms, some high-risk business owners may need up needing to sign the high-risk industry-standard two-year contract. In most cases, PaymentCloud can get the early termination fee waived.

PaymentCloud offers a “free” POS terminal to new merchants, but it’s more of a loaner. If you cancel your account, you have to ship the hardware back to PaymentCloud immediately to avoid being charged full price for the Clover terminal you decide to use.

We appreciate that Clearly Payments, which works with business owners in the US and Canada, offers both interchange-plus and membership-based credit card processing. Membership-based pricing is an excellent merchant account model that can really reduce overall fees for midsize to larger businesses. With a membership, you’ll be charged a monthly flat-rate subscription and get to avoid a percentage markup, plus your flat-rate per-transaction fee is much lower than most competitors offer.

We also appreciate that, like Dharma Merchant Services, Clearly Payments is very transparent about the fees you could expect to pay when you sign up for a merchant account with the company.

There are several built-in features that Clearly Payments offers for several business types.

For example, you may build an online hosted payment page, which essentially works like PayPal. You place a “buy now” button on your website or other online presence, a customer clicks it and is redirected to a Clearly Payments payment page, then once they enter their information (which is safely stored on Clearly Payments’ servers), they’re redirected to a “thank you” page.

You may also:

• Build custom invoice templates and track the status of invoices
• Create recurring payment plans to embed in your website, app, or other software platform
• Use a virtual terminal to take payments over the phone or send one-time payment requests to customers
• Design your own custom receipts
• Integrate Clearly Payments with popular accounting software, website builders, subscription billing apps, or make use of the open API to develop your own integrations

Clearly Payments works in 65 different currencies (with the currency changing dynamically depending on your customer’s location) and multiple languages, so you can use this Clover payment processing provider internationally.

Clearly Payments offers the following membership plans:

• Basic: $99/month + $0.08/transaction; for businesses processing up to $50K/month
• Pro: $189/month + $0.06/transaction; for businesses processing between $50K/month and $250K/month
• Custom: Custom pricing; for businesses processing over $250K/month

With a membership plan, you’ll pay wholesale interchange pricing, meaning that you won’t pay the markup percentage that you typically do with other merchant accounts.

The company also offers your standard interchange-plus payment processing, but Clearly Payments does not beat competitors like National Processing or Dharma Merchant Services until you start processing so much money per month that it makes more sense to get a membership-based merchant account.

The website does not list pricing for Clover devices or accompanying software. Clearly Payments offers Clover machines as part of a terminal rental program. Your rental contract is month-to-month, and you may cancel it at any time.

Clearly Payments offers monthly contracts with no setup or cancellation fees. You may also cancel your Clover terminal rental at any point without facing any penalties.